Marcus Smith was magnificent as England thrashed Japan to kick off their summer tour in fine style in Tokyo on Saturday.
The Harlequins fly-half aced his big audition to become Steve Borthwick’s starting No10 ahead of next month’s daunting two-Test series in New Zealand, running in one of eight tries on the day for electric England and also providing a couple of eye-catching assists against an inexperienced Brave Blossoms outfit in the heat and humidity of the Far East.
The only slight blot on Smith’s otherwise pristine copybook was a second-half yellow card for an early tackle on wing Jone Naikabula, but otherwise he shone as he surely cemented his place ahead of namesake Fin Smith with the formidable All Blacks looming and the likes of rivals Owen Farrell and George Ford both absent from the tour.
Chandler Cunningham-South marked his first Test start with an early score at Japan’s National Stadium, while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall and Sam Underhill also crossed the whitewash on a thoroughly pleasing day for England boss Steve Borthwick, who secured bragging rights over former mentor Eddie Jones as the Red Rose men came up against their ex-head coach for the first time since his sacking by the RFU in December 2022 following a dismal run of results ended a seven-year spell in charge at Twickenham.
There was a sour end to the afternoon though for England, with replacement lock Charlie Ewels seeing his initial yellow card for a dangerous late clear-out at the ruck on Japan captain Michael Leitch swiftly upgraded to red following a bunker review.
It was deemed a highly-dangerous act with no mitigating factors, leading to question marks over the Bath forward’s participation in New Zealand.
Ewels suffered the ignominy of becoming the first player ever to be sent off twice for England, having also been dismissed on his last appearance against Ireland after only 82 seconds in the 2022 Six Nations at Twickenham - the fastest dismissal in tournament history.
He is also the first player in the history of international rugby union to be red-carded in consecutive Test outings.
England actually made a shaky start to their Lipovitan D Challenge Cup contest, the first time they had met Japan in an officially recognised Test match on Japanese soil, scene of their agonising 2019 World Cup final loss to South Africa in Yokohama.
A youthful Japan side for the first match of Jones’ second stint at the helm contained just three of the same starters - captain Leitch, centre Dylan Riley and scrum-half Naoto Saito - from their last game, the 39-27 defeat by Argentina in Nantes in early October that confirmed their pool-stage exit from the France World Cup.
Jones also sprung a shock by handing an international debut to 20-year-old Waseda University student Yoshitaka Yazaki at full-back, a player who has yet to even make his first-class bow in the sport.
But Japan started brightly in their first match for eight months, slotting over a penalty to take an early lead through the boot of fly-half Seungsin Lee after a breakdown infringement by Underhill.
England’s much-talked-about blitz defence under former Springbok coach Felix Jones was being stretched to its limit in the opening exchanges, with the penalty count quickly totting up.
However, they could not convert that initial pressure into a try and were made to pay when their opponents scored with their first real attack of the game, Harlequins flanker Cunningham-South touching down with the help of his back-row colleagues Earl and Underhill after some strong carries inside the 22.
Cunningham-South received treatment for a knock and Japan continued to try and play high-tempo rugby, but fell further behind when Marcus Smith raced away to score after a perfectly-executed set-piece move off a lineout.
England had their third try just minutes later, when a smart double pump and delayed pass from the impressive Smith sent Exeter wing Feyi-Waboso strolling in untouched.
New Zealand-born flanker Tiennan Costley then thought he had hit back for Japan, but the ball was lost forward and the score rightly did not count.
After a bright start, the Brave Blossoms were now under huge pressure and they conceded a fourth try on the stroke of half-time when Smith switched play with a sublime kick and Slade gratefully took the ball in on the right wing before charging in to score for a 26-3 half-time advantage.
Things got worse for callow Japan quickly after the interval, when scrum-half Mitchell pulled off an effective snipe and dart to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
New England vice-captain Earl then quickly added try No6 from close range after Mitchell was halted, before Marcus Smith was shown yellow for that early hit on the dangerous Naikabula.Being reduced to 14 men didn’t slow England down though, with replacement scrum-half Harry Randall also darting over from close range as Slade took over kicking duties with Smith - who ended the day with 13 points, one try and four conversions - in the bin, adding two conversions of his own.
Japan had taken some heavy punishment but briefly rallied with time ticking down, towering lock Warner Dearns first putting wing Koga Nezuka through in the left corner before then juggling a pass with one hand and setting away replacement centre Samisoni Tua as the Brave Blossoms produced a quick-fire double.
Ewels then charged through with an ill-advised clear-out, straight onto the leg of Leitch, leading to a yellow that was upgraded to red in the bunker after Underhill had completed the scoring by finishing off a devastating driving maul.
England now move on to New Zealand and their first Test against the All Blacks at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 6, with their summer tour concluding at Eden Park in Auckland on July 13.
They will meet Japan again at Twickenham later in the year in an autumn series that also includes New Zealand, Australia and South Africa visiting south-west London. Japan, meanwhile, have Georgia and Italy still to come this summer.
