England 34-12 Japan
Date:
Venue: Stade de Nice, Nice
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Attendance: 30,500
England v Japan Match Reports
England continued their advance towards the World Cup quarter-finals by toppling Japan 34-12 but a messy performance that came alive in the the second half will have done little to worry the tournament’s heavyweights. Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant touched down and it was only when their full-back had collected a George Ford chip and stormed over in the 67th minute that they looked comfortable. A selection of match reports is listed below:
- Autumn Internationals: England battle to bonus-point victory in messy display against Japan
- BBC: England claim scrappy four-try win over Japan
- Guardian: England use lucky break to beat Japan but bonus-point win marred by boos
- Telegraph: Boos bring England to life against Japan as ugly win puts one foot into Rugby World Cup quarters
- Daily Mail: Steve Borthwick's side move top of Rugby World Cup group but struggle to dominate in error-strewn victory
- Sky Sports: England secure scrappy 34-12 victory over Japan to move top of Pool D
- ESPN: Unimpressive England do enough to beat Japan
- England Rugby: England secure bonus-point win over Japan in Nice
England v Japan - Match Highlights
England v Japan - Match Stats
England (13) 34
Try: Ludlam (24'), Lawes (56'), Steward (66'), Marchant (80'+1)
Conversion: Ford (26', 56', 67', 80'+1)
Penalty: Ford (4', 42')
Japan (9) 12
Penalty: Matsuda (15', 23', 32', 54')
Man of the match: George Ford (England)
England v Japan - Team Line-ups
England Team
Forwards
- 1 Joe Marler
- 2 Jamie George
- 3 Kyle Sinckler
- 4 Maro Itoje
- 5 Ollie Chessum
- 6 Courtney Lawes (Captain)
- 7 Ben Earl
- 8 Lewis Ludlam
Backs
- 9 Alex Mitchell
- 10 George Ford
- 11 Elliot Daly
- 12 Manu Tuilagi
- 13 Joe Marchant
- 14 Jonny May
- 15 Freddie Steward
Replacements
- 16 Theo Dan
- 17 Ellis Genge
- 18 Will Stuart
- 19 George Martin
- 20 Billy Vunipola
- 21 Ben Youngs
- 22 Marcus Smith
- 23 Ollie Lawrence
Japan Team
Forwards
- 1 Keita Inagaki
- 2 Shota Horie
- 3 Jiwon Gu
- 4 Jack Cornelsen
- 5 Amato Fakatava
- 6 Michael Leitch
- 7 Pieter Labuschagne
- 8 Kazuki Himeno (Captain)
Backs
- 9 Yutaka Nagare
- 10 Rikiya Matsuda
- 11 Jone Naikabula
- 12 Ryoto Nakamura
- 13 Tomoki Osada
- 14 Kotaro Matsushima
- 15 Semisi Masirewa
Replacements
- 16 Atsushi Sakate
- 17 Craig Millar
- 18 Asaeli Ai Valu
- 19 Warner Dearn
- 20 Kanji Shimokawa
- 21 Naoto Saito
- 22 Dylan Riley
- 23 Lomano Lava Lemeki