Tries from Michael Leitch, Pieter Labuschagne and Kazuki Himeno moved Japan up into second spot in the pool and teed up what is increasingly looking like a shootout for a place in the quarter-finals with Argentina next week.
Samoa may lament how Ben Lam's yellow card for a dreadful tackle on Labuschagne was upgraded to red while the Japan hooker Shota Horie returned to the field after his high hit on Duncan Paia'aua, but that is the lottery that competing teams must contend with at this tournament. To their credit they battled manfully and ensured a nervous finish for Japan.
The upshot for England is that they are through with a game to spare - the second team to book their place in the knockout stages after Wales.
There have been harder World Cup pools but it is no mean feat considering their warm-up campaign. They will have to get through next Saturday's match against a fired up Samoa with little to lose, however, before thoughts turn to the quarter-finals, where they are on a collision course with Fiji.
Both sides came into the match with one win-against Chile - and five points from two matches, but with Argentina lurking behind them. To harbour any realistic hopes of making the knockout stages, victory was a necessity.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 29, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 29, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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