England’s World Cup campaign is gathering pace and after a five-star showing from Henry Arundell and a sprinkling of stardust from Marcus Smith that suggested this might not be the last we see of him in the No 15 jersey, Steve Borthwick’s side will head for their rest week in contented mood. If it is a stretch to describe this fixture against Chile as a potential banana skin, this was England feasting on low-hanging fruit to chalk up a third straight victory in France.
Arundell helped himself to five tries, becoming the first England player to do so since Josh Lewsey in 2003 and the fourth in their history, but it was Smith’s moment of magic that produced the try of the match. Taking a fizzed pass from Owen Farrell, who enjoyed as composed a return to the side as he could have hoped for, Smith swiftly moved through the gears, pinned back his ears, chased his own grubber and splashed over on the stroke of half-time.
It was one of 11 tries against the lowest-ranked team in the tournament but nonetheless it was a demonstration of just how well Smith and Farrell can combine from fullback and fly-half respectively. With George Ford joining the pair for half an hour – Farrell shifted out to inside-centre – maybe three is the magic number for England.
Equally, Chile are not the best case study to gauge Borthwick’s plans for the quarter-finals – England have all but qualified, with only a bizarre sequence of events including a heavy defeat by Samoa potentially preventing them from advancing – but at least England tried something resembling a gung-ho approach here. It wasn’t always perfect and Farrell and Smith did not always dovetail effectively, but after they were booed during their bonus-point victory over Japan, this performance felt like a response of sorts.
There were no boos here, though plenty of Mexican waves and while Chile battled hard, they became the third side to fail to score a point across an entire match at the World Cup. Their captain, Martín Sigren, played for Doncaster in the Championship last season but 16 of the match-day squad play for the only professional side in Chile. This is their first World Cup appearance and as such it is difficult to really assess England’s afternoon.
In the positives column we can certainly put Arundell – he had struggled on his two England starts before but he filled his boots on his World Cup debut – as well as Theo Dan’s performance at hooker. Farrell’s return to the side was a seamless transition, which is no mean feat given he last played on 12 August. The way that he tackled Freddie Steward in the warm-up – leaning in with the shoulder and dropping the rested full-back, who did not look best pleased – suggested he was itching to get back into the action but his was a serene performance. He ended with 16 points, leaving him only one short of Jonny Wilkinson’s national record of 1,178, which will surely be beaten whenever Farrell next takes the field.
Chile so very nearly made it to the end of the first quarter without conceding. They were only 10 seconds shy when Arundell went over in the right corner, a simple finish after Farrell’s floated pass. England had threatened before that but, as has been the case throughout the tournament, the final pass went astray. There are still a few layers of polish missing from this side. Smith found himself in space on the left and really ought to have gone himself. Instead he flung a wayward pass to Max Malins and the chance was wasted.
That inability to take chances gave Chile a pressure point to exploit and they found a defensive frailty with England susceptible to passes back on to the inside. The lock Clemente Saavedra galloped through a gaping hole at one point and just for a moment, you wondered if England were in for an uncomfortable encounter.
Arundell’s first try settled them down, however. Dan’s robust carrying ensured they could repeatedly get over the gainline and it was the Saracens hooker who was next on the scoreboard at the back of a rolling maul.
He then turned provider with a fine pass for Arundell to again finish off in the right corner before Bevan Rodd sealed the bonus point. England were moving through the gears at this point and Malins flicked a delightful pass out to Arundell, before Smith’s try came just before half-time.
Dan got the ball rolling after the interval, again from the back of a maul, before Arundell added three more – one from a grubber by Elliot Daly, another after a fine pass from Ford and a third by collecting Smith’s pass. England, and Smith in particular, were cutting loose at this stage and he had his second before Jack Willis, another impressive performer, raced under the posts for the final try.
