Will Joseph Scores Five Tries as England Rout Japan by 13 Tries
Gloucester back Will Joseph scored five tries on his home debut as England ran in 13 tries against Japan at Twickenham. Japan had a man sent off in the first minute and trailed 49-10 at half-time under head coach Eddie Jones.
Will Joseph scored five tries on his home debut as England crushed Japan with 13 tries at Twickenham on November 14. The five-try Joseph equals record in a one-sided Test that England led 49-10 at half-time.
The Gloucester back, 24, collected a hat-trick inside the opening 20 minutes. It was only his second Test appearance. England's total also topped their previous highest score against Japan.
Japan lost second-row forward Harry Hockings to a red card in the first minute. The 20-minute sending-off was later upgraded. Japan's head coach is Eddie Jones, who watched from the stands.
How the tries came
Joseph's first try came in the opening minute. His hat-trick followed from a neat double pump pass by Henry Slade and a well-judged cross-kick from Freddie Steward.
His fourth was an acrobatic dive into the right corner. His fifth came after an interception on halfway, when he sprinted 50 metres. Luke Cowan-Dickie was in the sin bin at the time.
Ellis Genge scored a first-half try that left several Japan defenders on the floor. Cadan Murley and Ben Earl also crossed before the break. George Martin took England's tally to nine within four minutes of the restart.
Warner Dearns and Opeti Helu scored for Japan. Joseph is the younger brother of former England centre Jonathan. He made his England debut under Jones on tour in Australia four years ago.
England captain Maro Itoje's side did not take every chance for tries. They kicked at goal after an early penalty, a decision by Ford that visibly did not please some English forwards.
Crowd and context
The Rugby Football Union sold 9,864 tickets to under-16s, thought to be a record for juniors at a men's Test at Twickenham. Executives have admitted that the ground's usual age profile is a problem to address. The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has recently outlined plans to find the next generation of players like Henry Pollock.
Japan had lost narrowly to Wales a week earlier. The result leaves England with another Nations Championship fixture next Saturday against New Zealand, whose own result this weekend was a defeat to Wales. England head coach Steve Borthwick's side also beat Australia last week.
Sweeney has also said 10 of the 12 nations in the competition, the Six Nations and Sanzaar unions, are pooling their commercial rights. Japan and Fiji, invited guests, are outside that arrangement.
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