England power past Japan
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England defeat Japan in final game of Autumn Nations Series
Tries from Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ollie Sleightholme, George Furbank, Tom Roebuck and two apiece from Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie, as well as 14 points from Marcus Smith, secured a 59-14 victory for England. Japan's tries came through Naoto Saito and Kazuki Himeno, with Saito and Takuro Matsunaga converting.
With four minutes on the clock a free-kick at scrum time gave Japan possession on half-way and led to a penalty, but Saito's kick drifted wide of the upright leaving the game scoreless.
England opened the scoring five minutes later when they set up a rolling maul 20 metres from the Japanese line. The maul was brought down illegally and under advantage Marcus Smith played Ollie Lawrence through a gap in the midfield. Lawrence then drew the defender before finding Earl who ran over under the posts before Smith converted.
Shortly after, Jack van Poortvliet dummied and found the onrushing George, who was brought down just short. England recycled and won a penalty which they kicked to the corner and from the following phases Underhill powered over from close range. Smith converted to give England a 14-0 lead.
With 22 minutes played Steve Borthwick's side continued to punish Japan's ill-discipline as they kicked to the corner following a tackle off the ball. A dominant maul from the resulting lineout allowed George to cross for England's third try which Smith again converted.
Five minutes later England again found themselves in the Japanese 22 from a penalty. Smith dummied and made a half break before they recycled quickly for Tommy Freeman to finish acrobatically in the corner. However, the try was ruled out for an earlier knock-on.
Despite the disallowed try, a dominant drive at the following scrum won England a penalty which was kicked to the corner for another rolling maul. The forwards again showed their strength as George went over for his second of the game and Smith converted for a 28-0 lead.
Just after the half-hour mark Japan responded with a sweeping move from inside their own half that sent Dylan Riley into space. Riley then found his captain Saito on the inside to score, before converting his own try.
England hit back just minutes later when Ollie Lawrence's jinking run drew in defenders. He offloaded to Will Stuart who threw a miss-pass over the Japanese defence to Chandler Cunningham-South. Cunningham-South then picked out Sleightholme who cleverly dropped the ball onto his boot to regather in the corner for England's fifth. Smith continued his form from the tee to convert and give the hosts a 35-7 lead at half-time.
Japan started well in the second half, but England got the first points of the half 53 minutes in. Following an attacking lineout, a well-weighted grubber from Henry Slade was picked up by Tommy Freeman in the corner and Freeman set Furbank up to score with a sensational out-the-back offload. Smith was unable to convert but England led 40-7.
Minutes later Japan infringed and England chose to kick for the corner. From the lineout, Cowan-Dickie broke away and spun out of a number of would-be tacklers to score. Smith's conversion attempt struck the post, leaving it as a five-point score.
Japan replied by scoring their second try of the game. A good break gave them a strong platform and they worked the ball into the hands of Himeno to score under the posts, with Matsunaga converting.
Shortly after the hour mark England released Tom Roebuck on 40 metres out with space ahead of him. He was brought down just short of the line but England patiently managed the ball and Cowan-Dickie powered over for his second of the game.
Roebuck then got his reward for his efforts when Fin Smith's cross-field kick found him in space. The wing then fended and stepped inside to run over for his first international try, which Marcus Smith converted to see England finish their 2024 Autumn Nations Series with a 59-14 victory.
