Well, that was better, wasn’t it? England scored seven tries and looked more like the sort of team you would expect to smash the smaller nations to kingdom come.
Gary Gold, the United States head coach, was so downcast he even provided the attendant media with a newspaper headline. “Calamity in Kobe,” he called it. He was full of admiration for England and, in particular, their captain and string-puller in chief, George Ford. “We lost in every single aspect today,” he said.
That does not necessarily make England Rugby World Cup contenders, but it does mean that they are now properly up and running.
Eddie Jones is so pleased with his squad that he has given them two days off. “They’re free. Free to jump…
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