Sleightholme soars as England end series on high

A disappointing calendar year for England has at least ended with a flurry of nine tries and a healthier looking outcome.

- Robert Kitson

A bucket-load of points against a callow Japanese team on a blustery Sunday afternoon, however, does only so much to massage the overall bottom line. Five wins from 12 Tests – with four of the victories having come against Japan twice, Italy and Wales – tells the story of a side who look better when they face inferior opposition.

The burgundy-clad hosts did not have to extend themselves unduly, crossing the whitewash more often than in their previous three Autumn Nations Series games combined. There were two tries apiece for England’s hookers Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie while Henry Slade had a quietly creative game in midfield but New Zealand, Australia and South Africa would all have fancied racking up closer to 80 points against Eddie Jones’s inexperienced side.

This was the rugby equivalent of shooting koi carp in a barrel and nowhere near the level of England’s other recent fixtures. The Brave Blossoms, minus suspended lock W arner Dearns, were thoroughly outclassed and were blown away in the first 40 minutes prior to a slight second-half upturn. If England could play them every week they would be delighted.

So much for the fanciful theory that a swirling wind could just complicate things slightly. Might Storm Eddie conceivably sweep through Twickenham and cause some unscheduled havoc? The answer was such a resounding “no” that England did not really have to operate at much above third gear.