England 84 Georgia 6

England got their RWC campaign off to a resounding start in Perth, scoring a total of 12 tries to storm to an 84-6 victory over tournament minnows Georgia.

It was Jonny Wilkinson, somewhat predictably, who got the rout under way with a finely-struck penalty kick in the fourth minute after an early England attack saw the Georgian defence caught off-side.

Despite the final scoreline, it took England some time to break down the resolute Georgians and hit top stride, Georgia even managing to draw level with a penalty kick in the eighth minute through the boot of winger Malkhaz Urjukashvili.

England spurned a second kickable penalty some moments later, skipper Martin Johnson opting for an attacking line-out in the corner.  England drove on and the ball came left, scrum-half Matt Dawson putting through a grubber for Jason Robinson to chase.  Georgia survived that attack, but were unable to hold out some moments later when Mike Tindall crashed over for a try in the left-hand corner following a simple down-the-line move from England.

Wilkinson added the extras and England were 10-3 ahead, their slightly nervous start forgotten as they began to hit their stride and play the sort of rugby that has propelled them to top spot in the World Rankings.

Dawson romped over under the posts for England's second try in the 20th minute after taking a simple pop from the base of the scrum from Lawrence Dallaglio, while hooker Steve Thompson scored England's third try after picking up from the back of a ruck and sprinting clear of the scattered defence, Wilkinson adding the extras.

The Georgians were simply unable to cope with the tempo of England's attack and when Neil Back went over in the 26th minute to score England's fourth try -- and secure a bonus point -- England were in an unassailable position.

While Georgia never gave up, continuing to battle for their lost cause, England continued to find acres of space out wide and plentiful possession up front as they went through their full repertoire of moves ahead of the greater tests to come in this tournament.

As expected, England coach Clive Woodward made full use of his bench, Mike Tindall and Matt Dawson the first players to retire from the fray as they were pulled off at half-time to be replace by Dan Luger and Andy Gomarsall respectively.

They were joined by fellow benchmen Jason Leonard, Mark Regan and Lewis Moody, while England's MVP -- Jonny Wilkinson -- was also taken off the field of play to be replaced by Paul Grayson.

Following the encounter, England skipper Johnson proclaimed himself satisfied with his side's opening win.

"It was a strange game as Georgia didn't really play as expected.  They let us pick and go up the middle, while their wide defence was very good," he said.

"We certainly didn't have it all our own way.  They were tough and physical and battled throughout, but we didn't concede a try which was one of the goals we'd set out beforehand.

"Maybe we were a bit rusty but it's a massive game next week and we'll need an improvement.  Neither England or South Africa will have learnt much from each others' opening games."

Man of the match:  Difficult to single anyone out in such a rout.  For Georgia, tough front rower Aleko Margvelashvili and flanker Gregoire Yachvili deserve honourable mentions for showing resistance up-front, but the Man of the match has to come from the ranks of the Men in White given the final scoreline.  With any number of players queuing up for the honour, we'll go for second rower Ben Kay, who was tireless in tight and loose play.

Moment of the match:  Again, plenty to choose from, but we'll go for the moment when England finally broke through to score their first try in the 14th minute.  After a highly effective forward drive down the right, England recycled and attacked left, Jonny Wilkinson throwing the hint of a dummy to break the first line of defence before off-loading an inch perfect pass to Mike Tindall, who went over without a hand laid on him.

Villain of the match:  Apart from the odd niggle, the match was played in excellent spirit throughout, only the head-high tackle by Irakli Giorgadze on Phil Vickery giving referee Pablo de Luca cause to give someone a ticking-off.

The Teams:

England:  1 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Trevor Woodman, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Jason Robinson, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves:  Andy Gomarsall, Paul Grayson, Jason Leonard, Dan Luger, Mark Regan, Lewis Moody
Unused:  Danny Grewcock

Georgia:  1 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 2 Akvsenti Guiorgadze, 3 Aleko Margvelashvili, 4 Victor Didebulidze, 5 Zurab Mtchedlishvili, 6 Guia Labadze, 7 Gregoire Yachvili, 8 George Chkhaidze, 9 Irakli Abusseridze, 10 Paliko Jimsheladze, 11 Makho Urjukashvili, 12 Irakli Guiorgadze, 13 Tedo Zibzibadze, 14 Vassil Katsadze (c), 15 Bessik Khamashuridze
Reserves:  David Bolghashvili, David Dadunashvili, Vano Nadiradze, Badri Khekhelashvili, Sosso Nikolaenko, Merab Kvirikashvili, Irakli Machkhaneli

Attendance:  25501
Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers:

England
Tries:  Robinson J.T. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Tindall M.J. 1, Cohen B.C. 2, Dawson M.J.S. 1, Thompson S. 1, Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Back N.A. 1, Regan M.P. 1, Luger D.D. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 5, Grayson P.J. 4
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 2

Georgia
Pen K.:  Urjukashvili M. 1, Jimsheladze P. 1