England had to work for eighty minutes to beat a gutsy Japan in a Pool D match. Despite England's best efforts during the final ten minutes, they had to wait until the time was up before Joe Marchant crashed over for England's fourth and bonus point try that secured a 34-12 win.
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England started like a house on fire and George Ford converted a penalty after just four minutes of play. However, the next ten minutes belonged to Japan who eventually converted a penalty to level the score at 03-03.
A second penalty by Japan's Rikiya Matsuda stretched Japan's lead to 06-03. England struck back almost immediately when Lewis Ludlam bulldozed his way over the tryline. It was a well-worked try from an overthrow by Japan close to their tryline.
With nine minutes to play in the first half, Rikiya Matsuda converted a penalty to reduce England's lead to 10-09. George Ford converted his second penalty for England with no time left to play in the second half to extend England's lead to 13-09 going into the second half.
The first ten minutes of the second half were "exciting" with both teams not using their scoring opportunities, however, Rikiya Matsuda added his fourth converted penalty to make it a one-point match and twenty-five minutes to play.
England struck back almost immediately with a comedy of errors leading to a try by England captain Courtney Lawes which extended England's lead to 20-12.
With fifteen minutes to play, Freddie Steward controlled a Ford kick-pass and scored in the corner, extending England's lead to 27-12. Despite England's best efforts during the final ten minutes, they had to wait until the time was up before Joe Marchant crashed over for England's fourth and bonus point try that secured a 34-12 win.
Scorers:
England: Tries: Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Freddie Steward, Joe Marchant. Conversions: George Ford (4). Penalties: George Ford (2).
Japan: Penalties: Rikiya Matsuda (4)
Teams:
England: 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 7 Ben Earl, 8 Lewis Ludlam, 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 George Ford, 11 Elliot Daly, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 13 Joe Marchant, 14 Jonny May, 15 Freddie Steward. Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Ollie Lawrence.
Japan: 1 Keita Inagaki, 2 Shota Horie, 3 Jiwon Gu, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Amato Fakatava, 6 Michael Leitch, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 8 Kazuki Himeno (c), Yutaka Nagare, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 11 Jone Naikabula, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 13 Tomoki Osada, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 15 Semisi Masirewa. Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Warner Dearns, 20 Kanji Shimokawa, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Dylan Riley, 23 Lomano Lemeki.
