Rugby World Cup: England almost lose control as Japan get too close for comfort

England 34 Japan 12

England are in pole position to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals after a victory over Japan in their Pool D match in Nice on Sunday. Once more it was a far from a perfect performance, with Japan taking an early lead and twice coming to within one point. But England got the job done with four tries, Lewis Ludlam in the first half with Courtney Lawes, fullback Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant in the second for a win that was in the end not in doubt.

England will take it and move on.

Japan had a sloppy opening when an England kick-through and easy fullback pick-up was fumbled by Semisi Masirewa, who would soon depart injured. From the scrum Japan stepped offside and George Ford continued from where he left off in their last match, England’s resilient performance to beat Argentina in their opening game, and did so without scoring a try, Ford kicking all 27 points in Marseilles.

England were without banned duo Owen Farrell and Tom Curry, but Billy Vunipola returned from his suspension to take a place on the bench as England made heavy weather of the first half.

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Fumbled balls and mistimed passes, when they were in perfect attacking positions, frustrated the players, who were suffering from the slippy ball syndrome, and it allowed Japan stay in the game. Ford kicked for 3-0 but minutes later Rikiya Matsuda equalised. By the time of the first water break it was Japan showing enterprise, with an England offside allowing the Japanese outhalf give his side the lead on 21 minutes for 3-6.

But at a Japan lineout five metres out England successfully disrupted, with the ball bouncing to England’s side. Ollie Chessum had the first bite and made ground before it came back to Lewis Ludlam, who had a second rumble from short range and muscled for the first try of a hot evening, Ford converting 10-6 to put some light between the two sides.

The bigger England pack were making dents but the accuracy was missing. Ford missed a kickable penalty and Jonny May needlessly bumped a player after he had kicked to give Matsuda some more tee time, which he made for 10-9. But at the end of the first half an attacking English lineout was perfectly poised to ramp up the score before the break.

Maro Itoje collected the throw. But the flicked pass from Ben Earl missed the target and hit Jamie George on the face. It was embarrassed looks and shaking England heads all round before Ford took advantage of an offside to kick for a 13-9 halftime lead.

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England had won all three previous Tests against Japan and beat them 52-13 at Twickenham in November. But the backline showed little attacking variety, with Ford resorting to the kicking game. That was highlighted after 50 minutes, after six phases of play. Ford then poked the ball forward, triggering a chorus of booing from the crowd.

But England managed to get the game under control despite a Matsuda penalty bringing the match to within one point, 13-12.

Japan were also guilty of fumbling under pressure, several of their breakout attacking moves perishing on the ball spilling forward.

England’s most important purchase on the game was when Elliot Daly put away flanker Earls down the right, the ball came back and after what looked like a knock-on and another ball to the head of an English player, this time Joe Marler, Lawes streaked through the middle of the Japanese defence, the touchdown allowed by the TMO.

Ford converted for 20-12 to settle down a slightly spooked England team. But by the hour they had settled into a better shape and brought more control to their play. On 66 minutes Ford then executed an exquisite cross-field kick where fullback Steward out-jumped Tomoki Osada right on the touchline for an eye-catching try. Ford converted that for 27-12 and by then England were loaded with confidence flowing forward.

Marchant capped it with the fourth try as the game seeped into injury time, England now holding a dominant position with two wins from two.

Scoring sequence – 4 mins G Ford pen 3-0; 15 mins R Matsuda pen 3-3; 21 mins Matsuda pen 3-6; 24 mins L Ludlam try, Ford con 10-6; 32 mins Matsuda pen 10-6; 40 mins George pen 13-9. Halftime. 54 mins Matsude pan 13-12; 56 mins C Lawes try, Ford con 20-12; 66 mins F Steward try, Ford con 27-12; 80 mins J Marchant try 32-12, Ford con 34-12

ENGLAND: F Steward; J May, J Marchant, M Tuilagi, E Daly; G Ford, A Mitchell; J Marler, J George, K Sinckler, M Itoje, O Chessum, C Lawes (capt), B Earl, L Ludlam. Replacements: E Genge for Marler 60 mins, W Stuart for Snickler 51 mins, G Martin for Lawes 63 mins, B Youngs for Mitchell 60 mins, M Smith for Steward 69 mins, O Lawrence for Tualagi 68 mins

JAPAN: S Masirewa; K Matsushima, N Osada, R Nakamura, J Naikabula: R Matsuda, Y Nagare; K Inagaki, S Horie, J Gu, J Cornelsen, A Kakatava, M Leitch, P Labuschange, K Himeno (capt). Replacements: L Lemeki for Masirewa 7 mins, Sakate for Hori 62 mins, C Millar for Inagaki 49 mins, W Dearns for Kakatava 62 mins, N Saito for Nagare 64 mins, D Riley for Naikabula 50 mins

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)