England rampant in Test win over Eddie Jones' Japan

It was the first time England played an official Test match in Japan.

After the hosts took an early 3-0 lead on Saturday, Chandler Cunningham-South put England ahead with a try in his first Test start. Marcus Smith converted his Harlequins teammate's try to put the visitors up 7-3.

Smith's try on 24 minutes made it 14-3 for the visitors and England led 26-3 at halftime after Henry Slade's late try. The rout continued in the second half when Ben Earl scored a try to give England a 38-3 lead.

"Japan are a fantastic team. We knew they would be well drilled and we obviously know Eddie (Jones) very well. We couldn't have more respect for him as a person and a coach," England captain Jamie George said.

"Japan played with very high tempo and I think they will be very successful over the next few years."

Eddie Jones, starting his second stint as Japan coach after an ill-fated second stint with Australia, chose Yoshitaka Yazaki, an uncapped university student not playing for a professional side. The 20-year-old Yazaki impressed Jones in a Japan XV who won the Pacific Challenge in April involving other 'A' teams from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.

The rival coaches had a lot of previous connections -- over seven years together. England coach Steve Borthwick was an assistant for the forwards under Jones when he previously coached Japan between 2012 and 2015 and also when he led England from 2015 before Jones was sacked in December, 2022.

"It was a pretty tough game for us. England are a strong, powerful team," Jones said.

"But I was really pleased with our set-piece work which kept us in the game for a long period of time ... there is real potential here for Japanese rugby."

Only seven Japan starters were at last year's Rugby World Cup, where the Cherry Blossoms lost to England 34-12 in the pool stage.

England will play New Zealand in Test matches on July 6 in Dunedin and on July 13 at Auckland's Eden Park.

With PA.

Australian Associated Press