England ease past Tonga

England coach Eddie Jones welcomed their commitment to attacking rugby as well their mentality to keep going to the final whistle in their 69-3 demolition of Tonga.

England scored 11 tries, including four in the last 10 minutes, as the man-down Tongans lost their shape to give the Twickenham fans, filling the stadium for the first time since March 2020, plenty to celebrate.

Asked if he saw evidence of the ambitious rugby he had promised would be England's target after a year of sluggish performances, Jones said: "We saw the mindset of being aggressive in attacking the opportunities. The mechanics will be the fine tuning and we don't need to see the end of that until the seventh game of the World Cup."

The late withdrawal of Owen Farrell after a Covid-19 positive forced a late shuffle, with George Furbank starting as England flyhalf for the first time and Marcus Smith coming on for a crowd-pleasing half-hour, capped by a try.

Tonga failed to put England under any sustained pressure and after a red card for Viliami Fine in the 68th minute they completely fell apart, conceding four further tries.

England will face a far stiffer task next week against Australia, albeit seeking an eighth successive win against them, with Lawes likely to remain as captain as Farrell serves his time in isolation.

 

Photo planetrugby