England ended a five-game losing streak with a nine-try demolition of Japan as Eddie Jones’ return to Twickenham ended in a 59-14 defeat on Sunday.
Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie each scored two tries as England eased the pressure on coach Steve Borthwick after a disappointing second year in charge.
Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ollie Sleightholme, George Furbank and Tom Roebuck also crossed as the home side bounced back from defeats to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
England were sharp and efficient, taking their chances when they arose and showing variety in attack, but routing opponents ranked 13th in the world papers over the cracks of a difficult month.
“I was really pleased how we went about it, we were clear about our identity. We speak about getting our house in order and I thought we did that today,” said England captain George. “There is a lot to be positive about.”
A daunting trip to Ireland to open their Six Nations campaign is their next assignment and a comfortable win at least lifted the heavy burden of England’s worst losing streak since 2018.
Jones was in charge of England then and his return two years after he was sacked was an uncomfortable experience as his Japan side were overwhelmed.
The outspoken Australian is now in his second spell in charge of the Brave Blossoms, but his callow side never looked capable of springing an upset despite twice exposing gaps in the England defence to score through Naoto Saito and Kazuki Himeno.
“It is always good to finish with a win,” said England fly-half Marcus Smith.
“The autumn did not go the way we wanted but we have taken a lot of learnings in closing games out. Hopefully in the Six Nations we get to carry it on.”
England burst out of the traps as Earl and Underhill crossed inside the first 13 minutes.
The hosts’ extra power up front delivered two more quickfire scores as George powered over twice from a driving maul.
Sleightholme then added a fifth try before half-time with a brilliantly executed kick and chase to the line.
Furbank scored England’s sixth try but it owed much to a stunning behind the back pass from his Northampton team-mate Tommy Freeman.
Cowan-Dickie replaced George early in the second half and picked up where his skipper left off with two tries in five minutes.
Roebuck then showed good strength and fleetness of foot to run in his first international try.
Smith added 14 points with the boot with seven successful conversions to end a challenging Autumn on a positive note.
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