Five-try Will Joseph equals record as England steamroller Japan

Not every game of rugby can deliver a result for the ages. Admittedly, England do not score 13 tries every week but even if the hosts had run up 150 points they would have struggled to eclipse this weekend’s remarkable events in Cardiff and Paris. That said, in the annals of one-sided contests on this famous old stretch of turf, there have been few to match this virtual procession.

To say Japan came a distant second is to be polite in the extreme. From the moment Will Joseph collected a hat-trick of tries inside the game’s opening 20 minutes it was simply a question of how many points England would rack up and, to their credit, Maro Itoje’s side tucked into the free buffet with relish. Joseph, playing only his second Test, claimed a record-equalling five tries as his side comfortably topped their previous highest score against the Brave Blossoms.