Nations Championship
England (49) 78
Tries: Joseph 5, Steward, Genge, Murley, Earl, Martin, B Curry, M Smith, Fisilau Cons: Ford 4, Slade Pen: Ford
Japan (10) 15
Tries: Dearns, Helu Con: Saito Pen: Saito
Will Joseph marked his comeback after four years out the Test game with a record-equalling five tries as England tore through Japan and set their sights on New Zealand next weekend.
A teenage Joseph made his debut as a late replacement in a game against Australia four years ago.
Since then he has endured his boyhood club London Irish going bust, an underwhelming spell at Harlequins and the loss of hearing in his left ear after an auto-immune reaction.
But his superb early season form for Gloucester has thrust him back into the international picture and he took his opportunity superbly, showing work-rate and intelligence as well as raw top-end speed.
Four other players – Douglas Lambert, Rory Underwood, Josh Lewsey and Henry Arundell – have scored five tries in a single match for England.
Japan were vastly over-matched, unable to rev up the ball movement and quickfire rucks that have made them a threat to the game’s major powers in the past.
With the outcome clear as England raced out to a 32-3 lead inside 20 minutes, the focus sharpened on a number of individuals attempting to press their case alongside Joseph.
Centre Max Ojomoh, making his first appearance since an excellent performance against Argentina 12 months ago, was smart and sharp in midfield.
The Bath man burst into a pocket of space to help set up Joseph’s second and his slick hands opened up a corridor of space for his team-mate’s gleefully acrobatic fourth as Japan were buried beneath an avalanche of points.
Henry Pollock, afforded only his second start in his eye-catching England career, carried gamely but didn’t have the impact he has shown so often off the bench.
Replacement Greg Fisilau’s pair of wince-inducing hits and burrowing try added more intrigue to the back-row equation.
And while George Ford sewed together England’s backline neatly enough, his failure to convert more of England’s early tries won’t help his hopes of regaining the 10 shirt on a more permanent basis.
Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland made his debut as a replacement, but a host of front-line names will return next Saturday as England attempt to take down an All Blacks side smarting from defeat by Wales.
More to follow.
England: Steward; Joseph, Slade, Ojomoh, Murley; Ford, Van Poortvliet; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje (c), Martin, Coles, Earl, Pollock
Replacements: Dan, Iyogun, Heyes, Clark, B Curry, Fisilau, McParland, M Smith
Japan: Ueda; Ishida, Riley, Tua, Tokito; Kitahara, Saito (co-c); Kamimori, Harada, Takeuchi, Hockings, Dearns (co-c), Gunter, Shimokawa, Cornelsen
Replacements: Sato, Otsuka, Helu, Stolberg, Costley, Fujiwara, Komura, Lee