England record big win over Canada at Twickenham
England ended their two-Test summer series with a 70-14 win over Canada at Twickenham Stadium.
With four debutants in the starting XV in Dan Kelly, Adam Radwan, Harry Wells and Alex Dombrandt, England backed up their 43-29 victory over USA last Sunday with a dominant performance on a grey afternoon in London.
England were ahead in the first minute after winning a penalty and kicking to the corner, and from the resultant lineout hooker Jamie Blamire went over for his second in as many games – fly half Marcus Smith adding the extras.
The Canadians responded on the 10-minute mark when scrum half Ross Braude took a quick tap penalty on the five-metre line and bundled over, with his half back partner Peter Nelson adding the conversion.
It was from another driving maul that England’s second try arrived, after the referee awarded a penalty try for a collapsed maul, with lock Reegan O’Gorman yellow carded for the offence.
Debutant Radwan raced in from a brilliant 45-metre break when given space on the outside, and the wing showed his pace to beat his defender and run in.
Joe Cokanasiga finished out wide for England’s fourth after an initial Ellis Genge break was worked to the right wing, and he was in a similar spot for his second when he powered through two Canadian defenders out wide to score – his 11th try in 11 Tests.
Captain Lewis Ludlow was shown a yellow card after 30 minutes for making contact with the head during a ruck, and the Canucks capitalised when a miss pass found Kainoa Lloyd out wide and the wing dived over.
It was Eddie Jones’ side who ended the scoring in the first 40 minutes though when another lineout driving maul saw Blamire grab his second, with Smith’s conversion completing a perfect record from the tee in the first half for a 42-14 lead.
It was six minutes into the second half when England added to their tally as Genge took a short pop off Harry Randall and powered through under the posts.
Radwan’s second came after a simple diving finish after Alex Dombrandt’s drew his defender, and Newcastle hooker Blamire got his hat-trick from another powerful driving maul.
His Falcons team mate Radwan got his hat-trick minutes later when he expertly gathered a box kit and broke the defensive line to run in from his own half.
Harlequins’ Smith, who was called up by the British and Irish Lions during the second half, was taken off on the 65th minute after knocking over all nine of his conversions on the day, as England remained on 10 tries for the rest of the game.
It means England have won all seven Test matches against Canada and end their 2020/21 season with a win.
Teams
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Dan Kelly, 11. Adam Radwan, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Harry Wells, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Lewis Ludlow (C), 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Alex Dombrandt.
Finishers
16. Curtis Langdon, 17. Beno Obano, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Callum Chick, 20. Lewis Ludlam, 21. Dan Robson, 22. George Furbank, 23. Joe Marchant.
Canada
15. Cooper Coats, 14. Cole Davis, 13. Ben Lesage, 12. Lachlan Kratz, 11. Kainoa Lloyd, 10. Peter Nelson, 9. Ross Braude; 1. Djustice Sears-Duru, 2. Andrew Quattrin, 3. Jake Ilnicki, 4. Reegan O’Gorman, 5. Conor Keys, 6. Corey Thomas, 7. Lucas Rumball, 8. Siaki Vikilani.
Replacements
16. Eric Howard, 17. Cole Keith, 18. Liam Murray, 19. Donald Carson, 20. Michael Smith, 21. Quinn Ngawati, 22. William Percillier, 23. Robbie Povey.
