After what has felt like a bruising and painful autumn for England, there was finally some respite for Steve Borthwick as his side cruised past Japan.
England have been involved in nail-biting finishes this month in defeats to Australia and New Zealand, but there was none of that here. In reality, this game was over within 15 minutes.
Borthwick’s side had two tries on the board by that stage, averaging a point a minute, and they finished the first-half 35-7 to the good.
Japan were no match for England’s power and physicality, and even in the howling wind and rain the fans at Allianz Stadium could be calm their side would not blow this lead.
A victory for England ends a run of five straight defeats, however it came as no surprise. Japan have never beaten England, who thumped them 52-17 in the summer - which was the last time they had won a game until today.
The returning Eddie Jones, who has kept a low profile this week due to illness, named an inexperienced team - and it showed. This starting Japan XV had just 211 caps between them, with five of their players in single figures for appearances on the international stage.
Compare that to the strong side Borthwick named, which had just two changes from last week’s defeat to world champions South Africa. George Furbank came in at full-back for Freddie Steward and Tom Curry returned at blindside flanker in place of Chandler Cunningham-South.
And it was England’s back row that got them off to a strong start, as Ben Earl and Sam Underhill went over for their opening two tries.
Earl’s came after some much-needed creativity in midfield, with Henry Slade acting as first receiver and combing with Marcus Smith. Ollie Lawrence broke through and set Earl away.
There was a hint of fortune about Underhill’s try, who charged over the line from close range, as replays appeared to show he dropped the ball.
Video officials did not miss a knock-on in the build-up to Tommy Freeman’s try, which was correctly ruled out, but it did not matter as either side of that Jamie George struck twice thanks to England’s driving maul powering over.
A brilliant try from Naoto Saito shortly after the half-hour mark gave Japan something to cheer about - and raised more questions about England’s defence. But, once more, England were over shortly after that thanks to a fine finish from Ollie Sleightholme, who has been one of the positives this autumn.
It was more of the same in the second-half. George went off early, but his replacement, Luke Cowan-Dickie, helped himself to two tries by driving over from close range.
That was in stark contrast to the other tries England scored after the break. Furbank’s was a result of a stunning offload by Tommy Freeman, while Tommy Roebuck went over thanks to a great kick from Fin Smith.
Smith came on at fly-half for the final 30 minutes, with his name sake Marcus moving to full-back. It was a promising performance with the pair lined up like that and, perhaps, an option for England in the future.
The only concern would have been how Japan got joy in attack on a few occasions. Their try in the second-half came as England were cut open through the middle and Kazuki Himeno scored.
Not that it mattered, with Borthwick’s side eventually finishing up 59-14 winners after running in nine tries.
For once, after a tough autumn, this was a comfortable afternoon’s work for England.
