Otherwise it was an-all-too familiar tale of grunt and grind, with little sophistication in taking the ball into contact, and seeking contact rather than space out wide. Lewis Ludlam was the beneficiary of this largesse, crashing over from short range.
Their sole try was gifted by Japan who made two horrible mistakes at a five-metre line-out on their own line. The half-time score of 13-9 evidenced a first period that was disjointed and in which England, despite carrying the ball 43 times, made only one clean line break, and continued with their mantra of kicking to create pressure. England’s discipline in this, and the previous match against Argentina, was far better, with a low penalty count and decent defensive line speed throughout the game.Īll that said, there is another, more sobering prism through which to analyse the game and anybody who has followed and played rugby should temper their instinct for joy by taking into account the following facts. You could highlight the performances of Billy Vunipola, Ellis Genge and Marcus Smith from the bench, all of whom made significant contributions after they arrived on the field. You can point to the sterling efforts of Ben Earl, who was the standout forward on the pitch and who carried with venom and pace. There is some justification in backing Borthwick’s post-match claim that he saw an England side that, within a set framework, found a way to adapt the game plan and come away with a bonus-point victory.
The truth is that you can read this result in any way you want. However, having seen what actually transpired, the reality is not quite so straightforward. Head coach Steve Borthwick could not have designed a better scenario for his charges and can now have one eye on a quarter-final place against one out of three teams – Wales, Australia or Fiji – who are all busy battering each other in their scrap to qualify for the knockout stages.Įngland find themselves in this enviable position courtesy of a bonus-point win over Japan on Sunday night in Nice and had you asked anyone before that game whether this would suffice, they would undoubtedly have said yes, and done so very quickly. So, England march on towards topping their pool at the Rugby World Cup and now have the luxury of being able to rotate or experiment in their final two matches against lower-tier opponents.
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