Eddie Jones promised his side would smash Japan but England were more toothless than ruthless for the first 50 minutes against resourceful and cunning opponents who revelled in broken play and were durable in contact. There was far less for the hosts to harvest from victory than there had been in defeat to New Zealand the week before, forced to go back to basics against tier two opponents after trailing at the interval.
Eddie Jones: ‘In the second half we finally got stuck in – that’s pleasing’
Jones predicted Japan would be smashed and advised his former charges to seek sanctuary in a temple. It was not so much hubris as an attempt to jolt his players before a match when, unlike the previous weeks against the All Blacks and South Africa, they would be expected to take the initiative. Any satisfaction that the head coach took in the second-half revival was tempered by it needing an interval lecture and the early deployment of Owen Farrell to turn a game that largely passed the home side by in the opening period.
Jones has long yearned for his players to be able to problem-solve without recourse to the coaching team, but coming from the tactical orthodoxy of the Premiership they are comfortable with the familiar. If Japan scored their two tries during the 10 minutes Jamie George was in the sin-bin for killing the ball at a ruck and paying for his side’s accumulation of offences, they were a final pass away from another three.
Such was Japan’s domination of the first half that their interval lead of 15-10 made better reading for England, yet that came after Danny Care’s try on three minutes had suggested an afternoon stroll for England. The score was stunningly simple, Elliot Daly evading two tacklers after fielding a kick on his 10-metre line before Joe Cokanasiga and George combined to free the scrum-half.
Yet Japan enjoyed 77% of the territory in the half and 69% of possession, with England lacking a foundation, having only one scrum and one lineout. When Chris Ashton limped off with a calf strain after 32 minutes, he had received only one pass.
Their attempts to slow down Japan at the breakdown failed because a tactic turned into desperation as their opponents found a variety of ways to sustain moves: passes made under legs, over the head and out of the back of the hand. At times they went low with the clear-out, strong and quick; at others they were more upright, able to free their arms to find a support runner and they dealt with a rush defence by looping round the ball-carrier to provide an outlet.
It meant Japan were able to play at their own pace before the interval and as England conceded penalties – the count was 8-1 against them before the break – they found themselves stuck in their own half. Japan at one point opted for a scrum rather than kick a penalty in front of the posts, and they three times kicked a penalty to touch and were not afraid to throw long to maximise their attacking options.
Their pack may have lacked experience, with their captain, Michael Leitch, having 57 of the 124 caps, but they conceded little in terms of weight and they were robust in contact. What they lacked ultimately was a bench comparable to England’s and sufficient experience at the highest level to survive the final quarter when stressed by physical and mental fatigue. As they made mistakes and gave away penalties their light went out but it had burned brightly.
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Japan’s two tries were contrasting but well executed. First, after Yu Tamura had kicked a penalty, Fumiaki Tanaka’s long, swift pass from a scrum allowed the centre Ryoto Nakamura to take on Alex Lozowski on the outside and break his opposite number’s tackle. Lozowski was to make a crucial tackle on Leitch two minutes before the break to prevent a try but Japan’s captain had already scored one after Akihito Yamada had freed his arms having been apparently wrapped up by two tacklers and set the flanker away on the right wing.
Leitch has the physique of a second-row but the nimble-footedness of a Phil Bennett. He took the ball standing still, swatted away Danny Care, stepped out of Dylan Hartley’s challenge and, by now into his stride, surged through Harry Williams before dodging Daly to reach the line.
But as the match progressed and tiredness became a factor, Japan started to drop kicks, pass loosely and give away penalties, allowing England, powered from the bench by Kyle Sinckler and Sam Underhill, to make inroads.
Japan achieved a victory of sorts when Daly took a penalty from two metres inside his own half after Japan’s first try and George Ford kicked two after 55 and 63 minutes. Ford had set up Mark Wilson to regain the lead just before the hour-mark. As Japan chased the game, they reached breaking point.
Cokanasiga scored a try on his debut after Richard Wigglesworth’s box-kick was dropped by William Tupou and when Japan lost the ball and were penalised, England kicked to touch and drove a maul for Hartley to score. Jack Nowell missed out late on when his kick went dead after another error as Japan kept going but without the energy of before.
Japan had led at the interval on their only previous visit to Twickenham, for an uncapped match in 1986, only to lose after failing to score a point in the second period. There the similarities end. The World Cup hosts are now bulkier, smarter and better prepared. They simply need more fixtures like this one; and so do England.