England grind Japan down to win 34-12 at Rugby World Cup

Really disappointing performance by the Brave Blossoms. Just kicking penalties will not win games against the likes of England and the Argies. Time to start throwing the ball around and playing running rugby if they want to play in the Quarters.

The Red Roses looked poor in the first half. They'll also need to improve their attack to compete with the big teams.

England were disjointed in the first half, couldn’t string much together. They did find some form after the weird second try but they’ll need that for a full game if they want go much further.

While qualification from the group will probably be something of a formality for England, they don't have the quality to make it to the final.

That was a funny game indeed.. nice try blossoms.

England were terrible, lots of basic mistakes, no imagination or vision, kick, kick...kick. Luckily Japan were equally as bad. Made even more unforced errors than England. The game did have some highlights, comedy highlights... the ball bouncing off heads and England having a 3-1 advantage to the left but Ford kicked wide to the left, Lip reading Johnny May, he didn't see the funny side.

Flanker Michael Leitch broke Japan’s record with his 15th Rugby World Cup game,

Japan's best players were Matsushima and Himeno. Time for Japan to go back to their strengths of speed, quick passing and fitness rather than relying on size and power of residency players.

All work for the future as neither of these teams are going to win any world cups soon. Japan out after group stage and England the first time they play a good team.

That's the best header I've ever seen in a rugby match.

Someone should use it as a tactic.

Really disappointing performance by the Brave Blossoms. Just kicking penalties will not win games against the likes of England and the Argies

yep. As soon as they took it to 6-3 I knew the English were going to take advantage of the territory from the next kick off. Honestly I’d rather see Japan lose by a bigger margin but at least try to run it. Going for the 3 points just looks like they’re trying to keep up, not actually win.

Regardless of England's poor performance they still beat Japan...haters gonna hate

Might have been a ‘fluke’ that Japan lost-I don’t think so though

34-12 England v Japan, scoreline represents the abilities of the 2 teams perfectly.

After a very good defensive showing in the first half, England moved up a gear in the second and were quite impressive in attack.

Japan didn't really turn up in all honesty. They tried to play the English game and failed.

For their next game, a return to what they do best is in order. Fast, open, attacking play and set pieces.

At least Lawes had his wits about him. He won't score an easier one with everyone standing around watching him.

When a team loses then many people say that they played badly but the reality is that the win if team were just better! It’s not that the losing team played badly but the reality is that the winning team were just better and caused the outcome. Instead of bashing or sympathizing with the losing team, we need to give due credit to the winning team!

The problem with Japan’s supporters is that when Japan beats a low level opponent at the beginning of a tournament then they start to expect Japan to win the finals!

England look like the Allblacks with their new uniform.

England "used their head" and took control in the last 25 minutes.

 It’s not that the losing team played badly but the reality is that the winning team were just better and caused the outcome. 

I'm not sure anybody really expects Japan to beat England (or South Africa, France etc), and Japan did what they did well, not poorly executed at all. However, chasing penalties was not gonna get them close to that English team, who on a good performance would probably put another 20 points on top of what they did last night.

Mr Kipling is correct that neither of those performances are tournament finalist performances.

The problem with Japan’s supporters is that when Japan beats a low level opponent at the beginning of a tournament then they start to expect Japan to win the finals!

Yeh I guess all 3 of Japan's supporters have that problem...

How about that English media, though. Before the match the narrative was that Japan would pose no problems at all. Then when Japan keep it a tight match only for England to pull away by blind luck, it was England that was grinding Japan down.

A really half-arsed performance from England too. Japan need to up their game.

sloth.....

For their next game, a return to what they do best is in order. Fast, open, attacking play and set pieces.

They can't, they are trying to play "power rugby" and loaded their squad with the big boys from overseas. This works well against tier 3 teams like Chile but isn't going to work against tier 1 teams or even tier 2 teams like England look like they have become.

des Anglais chanceux marquent quatre essais à des Japonais maladroits…

=

lucky Englishmen score four tries against clumsy Japanese…

They did what they could, cheer up Japan..

The atmosphere at the stadium was brilliant. Thousands of Japanese there maybe 1/3 of the stadium. English and Japanese all having fun there. Tons of Welsh too (cheering for Japan obviously). Only problem is with the organisation. 30-40 minutes queuing to get a beer is a nightmare. The French organisation of food and beverages at the stadium and the public transport is utterly abysmal. Off to Nice again today for Italy v Uruguay and to queue for more beer.

England look like the Allblacks with their new uniform.

They've had that alternate kit for a long time.