England overpower plucky USA

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A powerhouse display from the England pack saw them claim a 45-7 victory over the USA in their second World Cup match in Kobe on Thursday. DYLAN JACK reports.

Eddie Jones’ side was still not at its best as, similarly to their opener against Tonga, they did all the play but a number of handling errors meant that they struggled to finish off their opportunities. Most pleasingly for Jones would be that England controlled the match and never really came under any pressure.

England now have over a week to prepare for their two final Pool C matches against Argentina (5 October) and France (12 October). A win over Argentina should be enough to see England through to the playoffs.

The USA simply had no answer to the English set piece, which had their opponents going backwards at the rate of knots. A defensively resolute first-half showing from the Eagles meant that England had to wait until the second half to get the bonus point, but once they had it, it was mostly one-way traffic.

On attack, England made 532m, as well as 76 carries over the gainline, beating 47 defenders in the process. Comparatively, the USA were poor with the little possession they had, only managing a meagre 18 carries over the gainline, while beating just eight defenders. Given the talent in the American backline, it was a disappointing return.

The match also delivered the first red card of the tournament as USA flank John Quill was sent off in the second half for a head-high shoulder charge on Owen Farrell.

England – Tries: George Ford, Billy Vunipola, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Cokanasiga (2), Ruaridh McConnochie, Lewis Ludlam. Conversions: Ford (5).
USA – Try:  Bryce Campbell. Conversion: AJ McGinty.

England – 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Joe Marler.
Subs: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Anthony Watson.

USA – 15 Will Hooley, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ McGinty, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 John Quill, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Ben Landry, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 David Ainuu.
Subs: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Hanco Germishuys, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Bryce Campbell, 23 Mike Teo.

Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images

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Dylan Jack