Summary

  • England beat Tonga 35-3 in their first World Cup match in Sapporo

  • Tuilagi powers over for two tries in first half

  • Hookers George & Cowan-Dickie score in second half to seal bonus point

  • Eddie Jones 'happy with players' attitude' but admits team lacked cohesion

  1. Postpublished at 67 mins

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Tonga launch a near 15-man shove as they bring the line-out in safely. Backs stream in from everywhere, but England drop the anchor and stem the forward momentum.

    And they have kept it off the floor to secure the turnover!

    I think that was a Maro Itoje masterpiece. The second row has a team-high three turnovers. That is a pretty big feather in the cap considering he is in the same dressing room as Curry and Underhill.

  2. Postpublished at 12:53 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Becky Grey
    BBC Sport at Sapporo Dome

    The crowd have been a bit subdued in this second half but they've decided they'd very much like a Tonga try now.

    They get a huge cheer as they set up for the line-out.

    Tonga fansImage source, Reuters
  3. Where's England's bonus point?published at 12:53 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Chris Jones
    BBC rugby union correspondent at the Sapporo Dome

    England need another try for a bonus point. I'm not sure how relevant a factor bonus points will be in this pool but they have another 15 minutes to score a fourth try.

  4. Postpublished at 64 mins

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Henry Slade has remained on the pitch by the way after that initial bit of treatment.

    With Jonathan Joseph on the bench, might it be wise to get him out of the firing line?

    Tonga have just kicked a penalty down to the England five-metre line...

  5. Get involvedpublished at 12:50 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    #bbcrugby

    Olly: What are the odds that we will get knocked out the World Cup by New Zealand on something like tackles made?

  6. Replacementpublished at 61 mins

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Luke Cowan-Dickie and Dan Cole are into the fray with Jamie George and Kyle Sinckler sipping isotonic on the bench.

  7. Postpublished at 60 mins

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Oh dear.

    This is not good news for England.

    Henry Slade, a vital part of England's Six Nations midfield, is down getting treatment after making a break.

    He did not play in any of England's warm-up matches because of a knee injury.

    Ford-Farrell may be set in concrete if he suffers a recurrence.

    Henry SladeImage source, Getty Images
  8. More action on the benchpublished at 12:46 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    England 28-3 Tonga

    Becky Grey
    BBC Sport at Sapporo Dome

    Jonathan Joseph is limbering up now too. A bit of back twisting and arm flailing is going on. The England bench may very soon be empty.

    Question is: where will he play?

  9. 'It's a bit like Fiji v Australia'published at 12:45 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    Matt Dawson
    England World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

    It's a little bit like the Fiji v Australia game yesterday. Fiji were more in the game and scoring tries but Australia had to resort to that power game to finish it off. Maybe England could have gone to that earlier.

  10. 'That's a proper maul!'published at 12:45 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    Paul Grayson
    Former England fly-half on BBC Radio 5 Live

    That's a proper maul! Got to grips with the Tongan eight, got the momentum and once they found that, they virtually sprinted the maul over the line. Absolutely nothing wrong with that as part of your attacking armoury.

  11. try

    Converted try - England 28-3 Tongapublished at 56 mins

    Jamie George (con Farrell)

    George Kruis' Mastermind subject would be line-out calls and their use in clutch situations.

    Straight off the bench the Saracens set-piece wonk calls the ball to himself, pulls the engine together and guides the driving maul over the line.

    Jamie George is in the slipstream of the juggernaut and dots down.

    Owen Farrell lands this conversion.

  12. Get involvedpublished at 12:42 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    #bbcrugby

    Ben Wire: Very impressed by Tonga! Not a walk over and good in defence. What World Cup Rugby is all about

    Siale PiutauImage source, PA Media
  13. Replacementpublished at 55 mins

    England 21-3 Tonga

    Lewis Ludlam is given 25 minutes to prove himself. He gets on as Sam Underhill is hooked.

    And that bench is clearing quickly.

    George Kruis and Willi Heinz are on in place of Courtney Lawes and Ben Youngs.

  14. 'You got dropped...'published at 12:41 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    Matt Dawson
    England World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

    You're one of those instinctive players, Danny, and you got dropped...

  15. 'Maybe the guys just get a bit nervous'published at 12:40 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    Danny Care
    Harlequins and England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 Live

    Eddie Jones has always said to me - play what you see, play on instinct. In all of our games and training sessions there's a lot of turnover and playing the ball into space. Maybe it comes to a World Cup and the guys just get a little bit nervous and they're not doing what they'd normally do in training.

  16. Postpublished at 12:40 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    England 21-3 Tonga

    Becky Grey
    BBC Sport at Sapporo Dome

    Henry Slade has just told Elliot Daly to get on the left wing. Looks like Daly will stay there and Slade will take over at full-back.

    Is Eddie Jones experimenting because he thinks victory is in the bag or is that where Slade will stay now that Owen Farrell's back in the centre?

  17. Replacementpublished at 54 mins

    England 21-3 Tonga

    On comes Henry Slade, who sat out the warm-up matches with a hip problem, in place of Jonny May.

    Here is Becky to unpick what Eddie Jones is up to with that change...

  18. Postpublished at 53 mins

    England 21-3 Tonga

    England's promising build-up play is dashed by basic errors.

    Sam Underhill's hands turn to hooves as he drops a basic pass, five out from the Tonga line.

  19. 'England aren't as slick as they'd like to be'published at 12:37 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    Chris Jones
    BBC rugby union correspondent at the Sapporo Dome

    Just those little signs that England aren't quite as slick as they'd like to be. Early stages at this World Cup and you'd like to imagine that going forward they'll improve.

  20. Postpublished at 12:37 British Summer Time 22 September 2019

    England 21-3 Tonga

    Becky Grey
    BBC Sport at Sapporo Dome

    Either Lewis Ludlam is coming on soon or he's got too much nervous energy in him to sit down. He's pacing up and down by his seat on the bench.

    The back row still only has two England caps to his name.