England ended their five-Test losing run by crushing Eddie Jones’ Japan 59-14 at Allianz Stadium in an upbeat finish to an otherwise disappointing second year for Steve Borthwick.
A 35-7 interval lead generated by five tries, including two from captain Jamie George, built a commanding position and there was no let up in the second-half with Luke Cowan-Dickie crossing twice as Japan’s line was breached four more times.
England were sharp and efficient, taking their chances when they arose and showing variety in attack, but routing opponents ranked 13th in the world papers over the cracks of an autumn that has seen the team go backwards.
New Zealand, Australia and South Africa had already stormed Twickenham to place Borthwick under pressure heading into the Six Nations, with his record for 2024 reading five victories in 12 matches.
Ireland in Dublin are their next assignment and this romp has at least lifted the heavy burden of the five-game losing run that registered the nation’s worst sequence of results since 2018.
Jones was in charge of England then and the Australian’s return to Twickenham two years afters he was sacked was another uncomfortable experience as his Japan side were overwhelmed with predictable ease.
The onslaught began as early as the ninth minute when Marcus Smith and Henry Slade combined to send Ollie Lawrence charging into space with Ben Earl in support to take the scoring pass.
England, playing in their red change jerseys, made ground with every attack and the alarm bells started ringing for Japan when Sam Underhill forced his way over following muscular work from his pack.
Underhill was injured while carrying the ball over the line, ending his afternoon, and the one-way traffic continued with England repeatedly driving tacklers backwards in contact.
Over went a driving maul with George the scorer and only a hairline knock-on from scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet prevented Tommy Freeman from extending the lead further.
But the next score arrived soon enough with the maul and George delivering once again to extend the lead to 28-0.
It was already looking grim for Japan but they showed their flair for attack by racing through an inexplicably large hole in the home midfield for Naoto Saito to touch down.
Lawrence was enjoying his best match of the autumn and his pinball run and a long floated pass by Will Stuart sent Ollie Sleightholme over, ushering in a long second half for the tourists.
They emerged from the break showing far greater resolve, however, and for much of the third quarter England were forced to roll up their sleeves as white shirts swarmed their defence.
But when the opportunity arrived to strike, England grabbed it with a line-out turnover kicked to the wing where Freeman produced an outrageous around-the-back pass for George Furbank to finish.
Spinning as he carried from short range, Cowan-Dickie was the next to cross but again Japan showed their threat with the ball when Kazuki Himeno rounded off a move full of imagination.
England responded with tries from Cowan-Dickie and Tom Roebuck to complete the win.
