England 84 Georgia 6
England got their World Cup campaign off to an explosive start when they thumped tournament debutants Georgia 84-6 in a predictably one-sided pool C game today.
After a cagey beginning on a surface made slippery by a day of torrential rain, England cut loose with eight second-half tries in a total of 12 as their superior fitness and technique told against a team made up largely of part-timers with virtually no experience of elite-level rugby.
The full-strength England side handled the ball cleanly, worked well in the forwards and scored tries from just about every place on the field.
There were 10 different scorers, winger Ben Cohen and centre Will Greenwood both getting two in the biggest win of the tournament so far.
Georgia fought gamely but England coach Clive Woodward will be delighted with a useful - and injury-free - preparation for next Saturday's probable pool decider against South Africa.
England got underway with a penalty for Jonny Wilkinson as the flyhalf got used to the ground where his accuracy will become considerably more important in six days' time.
Wilkinson scored 16 points and did not miss any of his seven kicks. Georgia replied with a ninth-minute penalty by winger Malkhaz Urjukashvili, to the delight of the majority of the 25,501 crowd.
Centre Mike Tindall got things moving in the 14th minute after lock Ben Kay had stolen the ball at a lineout and scrumhalf Matt Dawson chipped in with a typical sniping run off the back of a scrum.
England were handling the ball well but it was not easy going against a Georgian team showing commitment and aggression in the tackle.
But after a sustained 12-phase spell of forward pressure the defence cracked and hooker Steve Thompson broke clear to score. A massive shove at the scrum popped the ball out for a gift try for flanker Neil Back and only the timely interception of the boot of fullback Besik Khamashuridze, who volleyed the ball out of the hands of Trevor Woodman, prevented the prop claiming his first score in his 11th appearance.
Wilkinson, who converted all four tries, ended the half with another accurate penalty to for a 34-3 lead. He was on target again seven minutes after the restart to convert a Lawrence Dallaglio pushover try before being withdrawn by Woodward.
His replacement Paul Grayson missed his first attempt from the touchline after Greenwood weighed in with his first but split the posts soon after when the centre's break set up replacement hooker Mark Regan for a try.
Flyhalf Paliko Jimsheladze became equal top-scorer in Georgian World Cup finals history when he landed a penalty midway through the second period but the rest of the match was played entirely in the Georgia half.
Cohen scored his 24th and 25th international tries when he caught Grayson's accurate kick into the corner, then profited from a sharp break by impressive fullback Josh Lewsey. Greenwood got his second score to take the try count into double figures, winger Jason Robinson made it 11 and fellow winger Dan Luger brought up the dozen in the last minute.
There was another record for England when prop Jason Leonard entered the fray early in the second half to win his 107th cap, which along with his five for the British Lions make him the most-capped player in history, overtaking the 111 of Frenchman Philippe Sella.
Scorers:
England
Tries:Mike Tindall, Matt Dawson, Steve Thompson, Neil Back, Lawrence Dallaglio, Will Greenwood (2), Mark Regan, Ben Cohen (2), Jason Robinson, Dan Luger
Conversions:Jonny Wilkinson (5), Paul Grayson (4)
Penalties:Wilkinson (2)
Georgia
Penalties:Malkhaz Urjukashvili, Paliko Jimsheladze