England will go into their key encounter against Argentina with a perfect record following a comfortable 45-7 triumph over the USA in Kobe.
It was a better display from the Red Rose, who held a 19-0 advantage at the break thanks to George Ford, Billy Vunipola and Luke Cowan-Dickie tries, before they built on that lead in the second half.
Joe Cokanasiga (twice), Ruaridh McConnochie and Lewis Ludlam all touched down as the 2016 and ’17 Six Nations winners eased to another victory.
Eddie Jones’ men were poor in the early stages of their match against Tonga but they were slightly more efficient on Thursday, dominating the initial exchanges and building pressure inside the opposition 22. It put the Eagles’ defence under significant duress and Ford scythed through a gaping hole to score and give them a 7-0 advantage.
Buoyed by that try, England continued to control proceedings and create opportunities but the USA defended well and forced mistakes from one of the pre-tournament favourites.
The Red Rose did not panic, however, and went back to their trusty maul. Jones’ charges had the ascendancy in the set-piece and a powerful drive resulted in Vunipola crossing the whitewash.
They then repeated that tactic and the North Americans were powerless to halt the surge as Cowan-Dickie was the beneficiary of his team-mates’ good work. Although Ford was awry with the conversion, England held a comfortable 19-point buffer at the interval.
TRY!
Fancy footwork from Joseph gets Cokanasiga close to the try line and when you are 18 stone and 6ft 4", nobody is stopping you from two-yards out#ITVRugby #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/CfhT5qEXT4
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 26, 2019
England went in search of the bonus-point at the start of the second period with the USA struggling to make any impact on the game and some Jonathan Joseph brilliance helped seal the full five. Joseph displayed excellent decision-making to hold onto the ball and weave his way towards the line before Cokanasiga finished off from close range.
The Red Rose have struggled for fluency so far in this World Cup but they started to find a bit more rhythm and a well-constructed attack ended in McConnochie touching down for his first international try.
Ludlam soon followed him for his debut Test score as Tom Curry and Ford linked nicely to send the openside flanker across the line.
Jones’ side hadn’t given their opponents a sniff and the Eagles were evidently frustrated, leading to an awful John Quill shoulder charge on Owen Farrell, which inevitably led to a red card.
With the Eagles down to 14 men, England went over for the seventh time when Ellis Genge’s brilliant run was finished by Cokanasiga before there was a frantic end to the game.
It went back and forth but, to the Eagles’ immense credit, they managed to get on the scoreboard through Bryce Campbell.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Ford, Vunipola, Cowan-Dickie, Cokanasiga 2, McConnochie, Ludlam
Cons: Ford 5
For USA:
Try: Campbell
Con: MacGinty
Red Card: Quill
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Anthony Watson
USA: 15 Will Hooley, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 John Quill, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Ben Landry, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 David Ainuu
Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Hanco Germishuys, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Bryce Campbell, 23 Mike Te’o
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
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