Rob Kitson's report
Rob Kitson’s report from Tokyo has just landed.
With that I’ll sign off. Thanks for hanging with me as England got their summer tour off to a banging start, running in eight tries in the sweaty heat.
Japan played their part but, apart from a frenetic opening period, were always second best.
That was loads of fun. Catch you soon.
Another unwanted record for Charlie Ewels.
He becomes the first player in Test history to receive red cards in consecutive Tests. His last match, against Ireland in 2022, also ended with his marching orders.
And finally, what does Eddie Jones make of that?
It was a pretty tough game for us today. England are a strong, powerful team, but I was really pleased with our set piece work. We’ve been working on little things in our attack which created opportunities, but we weren’t able to finish them.
We wanted to move the ball quickly, and to do that starts with our set piece where we showed some improvement today. Our movement around the ball is still not sharp enough. But for those eight [new] players to play in front of a fantastic crowd, it shows really strong potential for Japanese rugby.
I agree. That was loads of fun, but they need to beef up when carrying into contact. Far too many spilled balls.
If this is what Eddie Jones' Japan MkII is going to look like, I think I'd like to sign up for a lifelong membership
— Squidge Rugby (@SquidgeRugby) June 22, 2024
Now time to hear from Steve Borthwick:
I’m really pleased with the result. I thought the application of the players was excellent. Late in the game our cohesion broke up a little against a fast Japanese team who took their chances.
I thought the [ball retention] of the Japanese was excellent. They were excellent and we had to defend really well to keep them out.
Here’s Jamie George:
I thought it was a really tough game. The conditions were really difficult. Really proud with the way we went about our business.
[Japan] are a fantastic team, we knew they would be well drilled. We couldn’t have more respect for Eddie as a person and a coach. I’m sure Japan are going to have success for a number of years.
It took us a little while to get used to the conditions. Off the back of that we were efficient with the ball. We have talented backs with a lot of speed and we managed to show that today.
Charlie Ewels becomes the first man to be sent off twice for England. Is that the last we see of him in an England shirt?
Get a load of this magic from Dearns:
An insane catch to give Japan something to cheer about 🔥
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Full-time: Japan 17-52 England
Eight tries for England and comprehensive winners. They bossed it through their forwards and showed enough class in the backline. Japan improved in the second half and scored two stunners themselves, but the gulf was too great. Concern for Ewels who copped a deserving red card, but this was a positive start to Borthwick’s summer tour.
Updated
80+1: F Smith chips ahead for Lawrence who dives but can;t quite reach it. He knocks on and that’ll be that.
80 min: Marler comes up with a turnover and Randall punts a better box-kick. Yamasawa fields a F Smith kick on the ground and chooses to run it back rather than kick himself. He’s bundled out of touch so England will have one last shot from a line-out on Japan’s 22.
RED CARD! Ewels yellow upgraded to red (77)
Just as I thought, Charlie Ewels has his yellow card upgraded to red. No mitigation, no excuses, no leniency for that sort of recklessness. That could see him miss out on the tour of New Zealand but them’s the breaks.
TRY! Japan 17-52 England (Underhill, 77)
Underhill caps off a brilliant performance with a try! He deserves that. Having won the penalty he gets on the end of a rolling maul. It’s a perfectly set set-piece and he falls over in a blink of an eye. F Smith converts.
76 min: Yamasawa has to clean up right on his own line after F Smith nudges a grubber ahead following another stonking carry from Earl (my pick for player of the match). But Japan, though, give away another penalty as Underhill gets over the ball (yet again) so they’ll have to defend a line-out five out.
74 min: Matsuda hoofs a ball out on the full. That’s his first mistake since coming on. So England get the line-out beyond Japan’s 22.
Yellow card! England (Ewels, 72)
No doubt about it, Ewels deserves that and could get this upgraded to a red. He has flown in on the angle, hammering the side of the breakdown and smashing Leitch’s knee. Thankfully the Japan captain saw it coming and lifting his leg just in time. If his leg remained braced it might have ended with something far more serious than a bump.
72 min: England win a line-out inside Japan’s 22. The maul is solid but stationary. Japan then win a penalty after Ewels flies into the side on the angle. That was reckless and potentially dangerous. He might get a yellow card here.
Updated
It’s certainly been morale boosting, but they need to sharpen up for the final 10 minutes.
This is exactly the performance and game we need really, to show we can dominate a decent side like Japan @danielgallan. I'm not sure it tells us much with the ABs coming up, as we're not going to get nearly as much quick ball but it's fluid and impressive all the same!
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) June 22, 2024
TRY! Japan 17-45 England (Yamasawa, 69)
Stunner! Warner Dearns with a piece of magic! The off-load on half-way is behind him but he plucks it out of the air with one hand, gets it under control and then storms ahead through a gap. With options either side of him he picks the right pass to his inside where Yamasawa is on the support line and canters over for a score. That is the try of the game! Matsuda with the extras.
TRY! Japan 10-45 England (Nezuka, 68)
Japan have their score! And it’s a good ‘un! A strong carry from Yamamoto got it going. Dearns, the lock, throws a lovely spiralling pass wide with the overlap forming and Nezuka the winger pins his earns back and dives to the corner, sparking memories of Brighton 2015. Matusda converts and Japan reach double figures.
66 min: Marcus Smith’s yellow card comes to an end but it’s Finn Smith who joins the party instead. Ewels also makes a Test return.
64 min: Fujiwara, the replacement nine, wins an impressive turnover penalty on the floor. Great heart from the little man. But Japan can’t keep the ball and it’s England with it again around half-way. Randall’s box-kick is a poor one and a teammate strays off-side. Japan, again, tap and go quickly, and kick to the corner. But the ball stays in play and Freeman has to work hard to clean up at the back. He does well and support arrives in time. Randall gets more distance on his clearing kick and Japan will have the line-out feed just beyond England’s 22.
63 min: England do get the scrum penalty and Earl taps and goes from the base. Lawrence gives away cheap possession though so Japan, through Matsuda, clears away with a hefty boot. A slight lull in the game. A breath before the final plunge.
61 min: England’s scrum consumes Japan’s. There’s no penalty, it’ll just be a reset. But the Japanese forwards look knackered. Roebuck replaces Fayi-Woboso who had another top match.
TRY! Japan 3-45 England (Randall, 59)
Inevitable. Off the back of meaty carries, Randall picks up and falls over the line. They’ll call that a snipe, but really it was simply a pick and go from the scrum-half. Japan melted away on defence. Slade converts as Smith remains on the naughty bench.
Updated
58 min: Fayi-Woboso plucks a ball from the skies and sets England on their way. In a flash they’re five out. Stuart and Curry both carry with intent. Matter of time now…
56 min: Japan now cough up a penalty at the scrum for going early. From having the line-out with a man advantage and five metres from the line, they’re now defending a line-out around the half-way line. Not accurate enough from the Brave Blossoms and they’re being punished.
55 min: Japan lose the ball in contact (again) after setting a maul from a line-out. That is one area of the game they really need to work on. You know, given this is a contact sport. They’ve simply been bullied in the collision.
Yellow card! England (M Smith, 55)
Oh yes, Marcus Smith tackles Yazaki off the ball. It was Naikabula’s off-load that put his fullback free with only two metres to go. There’s no penalty try which I think is the wrong call. Only Cole was covering and I am not convinced he would have made the ground in time. Still, Japan have a penalty within touching distance of England’s line.
54 min: Japan reach 10 phases and make some ground. Leitch gets the drive going. Oh, there’s a wonderful off-load and Naikabula is hauled down mere metres out. Japan keep it close before spiralling wide. England almost snatch an intercept. Was that a deliberate knock-on? Or was there a tackle off the ball from Smith? Either way, the referees are consulting their colleagues on the telly.
52 min: Mitchell’s assist will be his last contribution as he’s replaced by Randall. Curry makes his return to the England side. Underhill makes way with a bleeding face.
TRY! Japan 3-38 England (Earl, 50)
Earl gets his reward for all his hard work. Mitchell heavily involved again but that’s simple work for a nine of his quality. Thanks to England’s dominance in the collision, Mitchell is always working with front-foot ball. Once a gap is spotted he picks the right pass and Earl, cutting from left to right, powers over the line at close range. Smith slices the conversion.
48 min: England are held up over the line but have a penalty advantage. That was lovely work with Slade at first receiver igniting the move from the line-out after the maul failed to rumble on. Then Smith shovelled it on for Furbank joining the line and Fayi-Woboso brought it close with a tremendous leg drive after taking a hit. England came close but sharp defence held them up over the line. Still, they kick to the corner and will go again.
47 min: Underhill does Underhill things. By that I mean he gets over the ball on the ground and steals a penalty. He’s one of the best in the world at that. Once he gets in position there’s no shoving him off. A wonderful raking touch finder puts England about eight metres out with the throw to the line.
45 min: Changes for England with Dan replacing George and Marler, on for his 94th cap, coming on for Rodd. They’ll pack down around halfway after an England knock-on from a counter attack. And they’ll concede a penalty try at the first time of asking. Japan tap and go quickly.
TRY! Japan 3-313 England (Mitchell, 43)
Far too easy. It’s a sniping jink from Mitchell round the fringe of the ruck, and a cute dummy to create the space, but that’s poor from Japan who simply switched off. Strong work from the England forwards to get Mitchell within striking distance from a rolling maul and a George break off the set-piece. Smith slots the extras. This could get ugly for the home side.
Updated
42 min: Early penalty for England (apologies, there was a glitch on my feed but all good now). Smith punts to the corner and Cunningham-South brings down the line-out. The maul stutters before George breaks.
The players are just about ready to get going. Japan need a serious lift. Unfortunately, unless they each bulked up by by around 10 kilos, I’m not sure they’ll get what’s required of them.
And here’s Smith’s try. My pick of the bunch.
Now that's a pretty try#JPNvENGpic.twitter.com/l3IbqPPDAC
— EK Rugby Analysis (@ek_rugby) June 22, 2024
Cooking!
Henry Slade and Marcus Smith are cooking 🔥
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 22, 2024
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Available in UK & Ireland #rugby #JPNvENG pic.twitter.com/5ffBCGPUaa
Half-time: Japan 3-26 England
England fully in control. Japan have been frenetic and looked like running away with it early on. But England weathered the storm and once they began dominating the point of contact it was one-way traffic.
Updated
TRY! Japan 3-26 England (Slade, 40+1)
Outstanding! That is brilliant from Marcus Smith who shifted the direction of attack, spotted Slade on the wing and executed a perfect cross-field kick. Slade had to leap to gather, but that was put on a plate for him by Smith who is having a great game. He misses the conversion but that’s merely a footnote on an otherwise perfect show.
Updated
40+1 min: After the half-time siren, Japan win the line-out. They go down the line but Fayi-Woboso rushes up and snatches an intercept. England set an attack and creep into Japan’s 22 with a carry from Itoje. Smith lines up a cross kick….
39 min: Cunningham-Smith is taken out in the air at the line-out so England get a penalty. But Japan win the ball back with a brilliant counter shove at the ruck. The clearing kick doesn’t go very far so it’ll be another England line-out. But Lawrence is beaten to the breakdown and Japan win a relieving penalty in their own 22.
37 min: Unless Japan can get around the fringe at lighting speed they’re just not able to find space. England are putting in huge hits on defence. So it devolves into a kick tennis match that ends with England winning a penalty at the breakdown. Smith kicks to the corner and it’ll be another line-out in Japan’s red zone.
35 min: Freeman does well to tip a high kick back to his side of the line. England set an attack down the line and go back infield with Martin carrying with power. Rodd now. Lawrence knocks on from Slade, who I think was intending to send that further down the line. Too flat from Lawrence.
33 min: Oh no! Costley thinks he’s scored for Japan but his spill was deemed to have gone forward. Not sure that it did but that’s the referee’s decision. Better from Japan who found some punch in midfield before tipping and passing it on down the line. That’s what happens when you get a dominant hit. Now England win a scrum penalty. Rugby can be so cruel sometimes.
31 min: Penalty against George on the deck. England are happy to kick contestable balls. Japan have done well so far retaining the ball. Now they have the line-out inside England’s 22. They have to score here.
TRY! Japan 3-21 England (Feyi-Woboso, 28)
Too easy for England. From Smith’s 50-22, they secured clean ball from the line-out. Strong carries from Lawrence and then Earl brought it close and sucked in defenders. That created space out wide and Smith’s floated pass found Feyi-Woboso who had the simple task of catching and trotting over the line.
Smith converts. Japan need to find a different gear.
Updated
28 min: Smith lands a 50-22 with a raking kick to the corner. Everything is going England’s way right now.
26 min: Cunningham-South clatters Lee and forces a turnover. A huge hit. That’s his eighth of the game already. Japan are struggling to find dominant contacts and it’s starting to hurt them.
TRY! Japan 3-14 England (Smith, 25)
What a try! That is fantastic rugby, straight from the training pitch. George threw over the line-out and found Lawrence at full-tilt. He passed for Mitchell on the wraparound who fed Smith against the grain. There was nothing but clear air in front of the fly-half and he sped away to slide under the poles before converting his own try. Wonderful rugby from England.
Updated
23 min: Penalty for England as Osada fails to roll away. That was from a stiff carry from Earl who picked up off the back of the scrum. He fed Lawrence who charged forward to set the move.
21 min: Another spill in contact from a Japanese player. Naikabula, with his low centre of gravity and quick feet, wriggles through a half gap after Sato dummied and went down the blindside. But a firm hit from Smith forces the error.
20 min: Furbank gets the ball after a Japanese knock-on and kicks ahead, but overcooks it. The ball bobbles away over the dead ball line. England don’t get the feed as ‘they chose to kick’, according to the referee. I’m not sure that counts as advantage but anyway, Japan with the ball in the middle of the pitch about 35 metres out.
Drinks break. Mitchell is getting an ice pack to the back of his neck, others are sucking on water bottles. It’s sweltering out there. Japan will want to keep their frenetic tempo. England will know that if they can stay in the fight, their big forwards could prove the difference late on. It’s been a cracking game so far.
19 min: Earl knocks on, That was from a counter sparked by Furbank who linked with Mitchell. Just as it started to open up, Earl, against the grain, couldn’t hold on.
18 min: Japan are tipping passes on, flinging quick ball as soon as they catch it, they’re desperate to keep shifting the point of contact. Fayi-Woboso is on the rush defence but Japan keep it moving. Then they kick, then Smith kicks, now Japan come again. It’s relelntless but not so effective. England are starting to dominating the contact area.
16 min: That was direct and powerful from England. Their extra heft in the close exchangers was the difference there. Japan will want to avoid those sorts of contests.
There’s a bit of kick tennis after the restart. It ends with a line-out to Japan on the halfway line.
TRY! Japan 3-7 England (Cunningham-South, 14)
He’s got it down! England are on the board. It started with Itoje hauling the ball down from the line-out and then leading the rolling maul. Some big carries punched it closer to the line before Cunningham-South rampaged over two tacklers to muscle the ball over the line. That was England’s first attack and they come up with the goods. Smith converts.
Updated
14 min: Cunningham-South is celebrating, I think he’s scored a try…
13 min: Scrum penalty for England. Slade with the ball as he lines up a kick to touch. England’s forwards are winning their battle. That’s two defensive mauls and now a scrum that has relieved pressure.
12 min: Japan are finding half-holes in the line with ease. They’re punching through gaps in midfield and around the edge of almost every defender. There’s a spill in contact around half-way, so England will have a rare chance to set an attack themselves, but it’s been all Japan so far. England are just about holding on.
10 min: Another five metre line-out for Japan. This time they go to Leitch at the back. They set the maul bit lose it again, spilling in contact and Mitchell can hoof it clear.
9 min: Free-kick for England from the scrum. Japan went early. But the clearing kick doesn’t find touch so Japan counter. There’s another penalty that goes their way. I think Cunningham-Smith had his hands on the deck.
7 min: England win the ball back with their heels on their own line. Japan opt to maul from the line-out and that plays into England’s hands. They smother the ball carrier and force the turnover.
6 min: Lovely hands from Japan. Up to 10 phases that was sparked with a grubber through the England rush defence. Tua with some meaty carries, bumping off Fayi-Waboso in contact. It’s delicious passing, as if the ball was a hot potato. Sensational tempo, there’s a penalty advantage, they’re five metres out. But there’s a spill so they’ll have the penalty about seven metres out. Wonderful stuff. They kick to the corner five out.
4 min: Scrum penalty to Japan. Rodd the guilty party for collapsing. This has not been a smart start for England. But Japan don’t kick for touch and instead hoof it aimlessly upfield.
3 min: Underhill knocks on from the England restart. Japan try to counter with a huge skip-pass but can’t make it stick. Scrum to Japan just beyond their 22.
Penalty! Japan 3-0 England (Lee, 2)
Lee gets a lot of elevation on that kick, but it’s between the sticks. Japan on the board.
1 min: Cunningham-South fumbles the kick-off and shortly after England fail to roll away at the ruck. So Lee will take a shot at goal. Not a good start for the visitors.
Just about to get going. England in all black (or is that navy?). Japan in their classic red and white horizontal stripes. Will Eddie have his revenge or will Steve provide some much needed sparkle to a team packed with potential? We’re about to find out.
Updated
England have never previously lost to Japan in eight previous meetings between the two nations.
They last played each other in Nice in the World Cup pool stages in September. England secured a 34-12 bonus point win, but were booed as they gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘winning ugly’.
Will this be a brave new era for Borthwick, starting off with a win over the Brave Blossoms?
This he word ‘brave’ has been doing a lot of heavy lifting this week. Henry Slade, the team’s vice-captain – of of four if you can believe – called on his teammates to show some gumption in Tokyo:
Japan team
Eddie Jones has selected a largely inexperienced squad for his first Test back as head coach of the Brave Blossoms, with a university student yet to make his fisrt-class debut at fullback.
Yoshitaka Yazaki has shown plenty of promise in Japan XV’s recent World Rugby Pacific Challenge-winning campaign, as well as last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship, but it’s a tough ask for the 20-year-old to make such a giant leap to the elite level.
Michael Leitch is still there, though. In his 16th year as a professional, he’ll skipper the side for the first time since July 2021.
Japan: Yazaki; Naikabula, Riley, Osada, Nezuka; Lee, Sato; Mohara, Harada, Takeuchi, Waqa, Dearns, Leitch (cap), Costley, Makisi.
Replacements: Sakate, Miura, Tamefusa, Saumaki, Yamamoto, Fujiwara, Matsuda, Tua.
Here’s your Japan national team members to take on England in this Saturday’s first summer test 🇯🇵🔥
— Japan Rugby (@JRFURugby) June 20, 2024
📆 Saturday, 22 June 14:50
📍 Japan National Stadium
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England team
Borthwick was rewarded players who showed domestic form and will field a group bursting with attacking promise.
Northampton’s George Furbank and Tommy Freeman earn their place in the starting XV with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso potroling the wing. Henry Slade in midfield provides experience and Marcus Smith gets the nod at 10.
It’s a beefy pack with Sam Underhill and Ben Earl uniting in a mobile backrow. Charlie Ewels returns to the squad and is one of four Bath players selected.
England: Furbank; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman; M Smith, Mitchell; Rodd, George (c), Cole, Itoje, Martin, Cunningham-Smith, Underhill, Earl.
Replacements: Dan, Marler, Stuart, Ewels, Curry, Randall, F Smith, Roebuck.
Your England team to face Japan 🌹
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Preamble
It’s “a little bit weird” that England and Eddie Jones are crossing paths so soon after their messy divorce in 2022.
Oh, those aren’t my words, but the sentiment expressed by England’s captain Jamie George, who went as far as suggesting that some England players would need to double check that they weren’t receiving instructions from the wrong coach’s box.
He was joking of course, but there’s a strange twist of fate at play here. Jones remains England’s most successful coach in terms of win percentage with 72.8%, substantially more than Steve Borthwick’s record of 57.1%.
And like an ex that leaves an emotional imprint for life, Jones’ mark on this England team is apparent still. Five of today’s match-day 23 were part of arguably Jones’ most famous win – the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
It’s a new dawn for both teams and their coaches. Borthwick will be eager to build on the unexpected success of last year’s World Cup by proving that he can add attacking nous to his pragmatic gameplan.
As for Jones, he’ll want to put the disastrous Australian tenure behind him and Japan will want to raise their game after falling by the wayside over the past eight years.
It’s a fascinating contest, one dripping with meaning and stacked with narrative. I’m looking forward to it!
If you have a thought you’d like to share do drop me a mail.
Kick off at 6:50am BST/2:50pm in Tokyo.
