England laboured to a 34-12 bonus-point victory over Japan in their second error-strewn World Cup match in Nice on Sunday to set themselves up as likely Pool D winners.
Steve Borthwick's side, who dispelled pre-tournament jitters with a comprehensive 27-10 win over Argentina in their opening match, racked up a fourth win over a Japan team far from its 2019 vintage when they won their four pool matches at their home World Cup.
But they again looked like a shadow of their former selves, producing a litany of handling mistakes and wayward out-of-hand kicking, and generally failing to reproduce the game management needed to boss the match at the Stade de Nice. "It was probably not the prettiest watching it. It's really hard to play with the ball in these conditions. These late kick-offs, the ball is greasy. You've got to find ways to break a team down but we got there in the end."
A Rikiya Matsuda cross-kick went too long, but the fly-half kicked a resulting penalty to draw the sides level. Boos and whistles echoed around the stadium as Alex Mitchell and Ford continued to kick possession away, even when close to the Japanese line.Ben Earls and Freddie Steward roared back up the right wing and the decisive moment came when the ball was recycled into midfield.
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