He’s the right Joe for England
EDDIE Jones predicted a bright future for Bath wing Joe Cokanasiga who scored on his debut in the 35-15 win over Japan at Twickenham.
He said: “Joe will score plenty. He is a big lad with pace and power. He can find the line and will score a few more at Twickenham down that left-hand side.”
THE Wallabies have their difficulties but they will not be wobbling after seeing this England display.
Although England scored 25 unanswered second-half points – all of them in the last 22 minutes – to take this match away from Japan, this was definitely not the sort of smashing Eddie Jones had in mind when he exhorted his reserves to crush them.
Instead of marmelizing Japan the only thing that England looked like smashing for most of this match was was their own confidence. As for Jones, it would take a JCB digger to undermine his self-belief, but you suspect that the first-half performance of this England A team will have fractured his faith in his reserve depth.
It was role reversal as Japan made England look like the second-tier outfit at the outset. Michael Leitch – the turbo-charged captain who led them to the World Cup victory over South Africa in Brighton three years ago which shifted Rugby Union’s tectonic plates – played as if he was on a repeat mission at Twickenham.
Leitch was not alone in being in human dynamo mode, with Japan dominating the first-half in terms of the gain-line battle. There were indicators beforehand that the Japanese would be combative at close quarters given that there was virtually no difference in the overall weight of the two packs.
However, when this translated into England losing most of the collisions, as well as coming a distant second in the contests for possession and territory, and also losing the penalty count 8-1, there was clearly something missing.
Match captain George Ford put his finger on it in a post-match interview when he said: “It was very disappointing in the first-half – our attitude wasn’t quite there, which is not good enough when you are playing for England.”
It was not unexpected that England would be a little flat after their exertions against New Zealand a week ago. However, what Ford did not explain was why the home side did not have a tighter plan in place to sap Japan’s strength at the outset, rather than play into their hands by opting for fast and loose.
England made the mistake of being drawn down that avenue when they scored the opening try through Danny Care after just three minutes. It came from a clearance which was run back with interest by Elliot Daly, who beat two tacklers before linking with new cap Joe Cokanasiga.
The Fijian-born wing made good headway before passing inside to Jamie George, who then sent the England scrum-half sprinting in from 30 metres.
Ford’s conversion made it 7-0, but the sense that the incision had been a little too easy took root when Japan responded with a multi-phase attack which saw a rapid pass by Leitch come within a whisker of putting fly-half Yu Tamura over in the corner.
The near full house Twickenham breathed a sigh of relief when George’s last-ditch tackle forced Tamura into touch at the corner flag.
When Japan kept the pressure on they were rewarded as Tamura’s penalty got them off the mark at 7-3 – and their prospects looked even brighter when George blotted his copybook by being yellow-carded for blatant offside at a ruck.
It took Japan one minute to make their numerical advantage count when a quick scrum heel in the England 22 saw scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka fire the ball to burly inside-centre Ryoto Nakamura. His powerful run included an outside step which took him past Alex Lozowski’s tackle, and after he scored under the posts, Tamura added the extras to give Japan a deserved 10-7 lead.
Parity was restored briefly when Daly kicked a long-range special from a couple of metres inside the England half to make it 10-10, but it was Japan who had the greater urgency – as well as the footwork and quick-touch passing – to make continuous inroads.
The bustling centre pairing of Nakamura and Timothy Laefele made the most of Tanaka’s high tempo promptings, and Japanese determination was encapsulated when Akihito Yamada wrestled with a couple of England tacklers before his pass sent Leitch rampaging clear.
It resulted in an inspirational captain’s try as the former Waikato Chiefs flanker beat Care’s tackle, went past Dylan Hartley, stepped out of a Harry Williams attempt, and then went round Daly to dot down.
It will have made uncomfortable viewing for George as Japan took a 15-10 lead, and even after he returned from the sin-bin Leitch nearly pulled off a repeat romp in the closing minute. To English relief his intended scoring pass to Tamura was taken by Henry Slade, and they kept their line intact.
However, England turned round knowing that with just one line-out win and a single scrum put-in to show for the entire half they could not afford another no-traction 40 minutes.
Even then it took them most of the third quarter to press the emergency booster, but with the cavalry coming on in the form of Ben Moon, Kyle Sinckler and Sam Underhill arriving up front to give Maro Itoje some assistance, and Owen Farrell doing the same for a rudderless backline, they started to turn the ship.
After a Ford penalty narrowed the gap to 15-13 strong carries by Sinckler and Itoje saw England on the offensive. When a neat pop-pass by Sinckler to Underhill resulted in quick ruck ball for almost the first time, a Ford dummy to
the outside before a switch to the inside sent Mark Wilson racing clear.
Ford’s conversion gave England a 20-15 lead with the final quarter to play, and although Japan still showed enterprise with their quick, accurate passing they were the side showing the greater wearand-tear.
Another Ford penalty pushed England out to 23-15 before Cokanasiga showed his finishing prowess by chasing hard to tap a Richard Wigglesworth box-kick into George’s path, and when he whipped it out to Farrell getting up in support to barrel over from his inside pass.
Ford kicked the conversion to make it 30-15, and the home side finally kicked clear of a tenacious Japanese crew when Hartley squeezed over for their fourth try from a line-out drive five minutes from time.
It gave England a far greater margin of victory than their lacklustre firsthalf merited, and if they start as badly against Australia the climb could soon be too steep.