England ran in nine tries as they cruised to a 59-14 victory over Japan at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, ending their Autumn Nations Series with a win.
After three narrow defeats to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, England headed into the final game of their campaign with something to prove and with an over-half century score on the board, they will feel they made the mark they were hoping to against old head coach Eddie Jones’ side.
Tries from Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ollie Sleightholme plus a double from captain Jamie George gave England a big lead at half-time, Marcus Smith’s perfection with the boot helping them notch 35 points in total.
The second half then unfolded in a similar fashion as tries from George Furbank, Tom Roebuck and two from Luke Cowan-Dickie was only matched with one converted effort by Japan’s Kazuki Himeno.
With the Autumn Nations Series now finished for Steve Borthwick’s side, who picked up one win and three losses, their attention will next turn to the Six Nations at the beginning of 2025.
England show flare in confidence-boosting performance
After back-to-back penalties got Japan up the pitch in the early moments, Jones’ side chancing their arm in attack, and they were gifted a penalty opportunity but could not convert it. It then wasn’t long until England took all the momentum.
Following a sustained period of pressure, a silky Smith pass in the ninth minute sent Ollie Lawrence through a gap to feed a waiting Earl to go in under the sticks, Underhill then barrelled over from short range just a few minutes later to bring the score to 14-0 after 15 minutes, the England fly-half converting both efforts.
With another penalty then coming as Tom Curry was hit late, England’s famous maul started just a few metres out and overpowered Japan to get skipper George on the scoreboard, Smith once again obliging with the extras to increase England’s advantage to 21-0 after 25 minutes.
Despite a Tommy Freeman try then being ruled out for a knock on in the build-up, it wasn’t long until the England captain was rewarded from the maul once again to extend his side’s lead to 28-0.
Against the run of play, some brilliant speed from Dylan Riley sent Japan skipper Naito through the gap and in under the sticks before converting his own effort but England hit back straight away as a looping pass to Chandler Cunningham-South was sent onto Sleightholme, the winger grubbering and picking up his own kick to go over in the corner.
With Smith accurate with the boot throughout the opening 40, England went in with a healthy 35-7 lead at half-time and in control of the match.
Although Japan came out with intent, it wasn’t long until Borthwick’s outfit was in control once again, the highlight coming on the 53rd minute as Tommy Freeman threw a ludicrous one-handed behind the back pass for George Furbank to score.
With a Luke Cowan-Dickie double then helping England to the half-century mark, a Himeno try for the visitors interrupting his double, England were 52-14 up with 15 minutes still to play.
Such a healthy scoreline allowed England to finish their scoring in style, an audacious Fin Smith kick being collected by Roebuck to go over in the corner, Smith converting once again to round off an emphatic 59-14 victory against their old coach’s new outfit.
Smith: Autumn has given us a lot of learnings…
England’s Marcus Smith, speaking to TNT Sports:
“There are a lot of learnings to take, but it is always good to finish with a win.
“The autumn did not go the way we wanted but we have taken a lot of learnings in closing games out. Hopefully in the Six Nations we get to carry it on.
“It takes time, there will be pain for a bit, we have stuck together as a group with some experienced boys leading us and hopefully we take it on into the Six Nations.
“The biggest learning is how to close out games, be more ruthless, don’t go into our shells and finish teams off when they are there for the taking. Those small moments in the big games matter and we have to learn quick.”
What’s next?
The Autumn Nations Series concludes on Saturday November 30 as Ireland take on Australia at the Aviva Stadium from 3.10pm.
Watch every game of the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, including all three Test matches against the Wallabies, exclusively live on Sky Sports.
