England’s 13-try rout of Japan at Twickenham underlines widening international gap
England demolished Japan at Twickenham on November 14, 2026, scoring 13 tries in a one-sided men’s Test; England’s dominance was punctuated by repeated close-ups of Japan coach Eddie Jones in the coaches’ box and an early sending-off for a Japanese player who had not yet touched the ball.
Under Steve Borthwick, England produced a familiar performance pattern: disciplined structures and sustained pressure that made their opposition look amateur, a template they executed after similar displays against an off-colour Australia last week and Fiji over the summer. The fixture attracted near-capacity interest and a record junior turnout, with 9,864 under-16s tickets sold for a men’s Test at Twickenham, while RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney publicly outlined plans to develop players in the mould of Henry Pollock. Pollock was quieter on the day than he had been the previous week, but Will Joseph provided moments that clearly entertained the young crowd.
Individually, Max Ojomoh stood out when afforded latitude in attack and Will Joseph finished chances effectively, while Maro Itoje produced defensive interventions noted by observers. The television production repeatedly cut to Eddie Jones after almost every England try, an image that illustrated how emphatic the scoreline became. The columnist also highlighted a perceived cruel streak from the broadcast crew in showing those reactions during England’s succession of scores.
Japan’s performance was undermined from the outset by the early dismissal and by deeper structural issues within domestic rugby, factors the article links to a regression in results since the Brave Blossoms’ victory over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup and their later run to the quarter-finals. The match was described as effectively finished almost immediately, and the Brave Blossoms were characterised in the piece as appearing like “Sunday afternoon amateurs.”
The result also fed into a wider critique of the international landscape: Ten of the 12 nations involved in the current competition — the Six Nations and the Sanzaar unions — have reportedly agreed to pool their commercial rights, a move that leaves Japan and Fiji on the outside of those arrangements. The piece states that the USA would be “whistled up” to replace one of the invited nations if they can get their house in order, and questions remain over whether promotion and relegation will operate in practice given the new commercial collaboration.
The RFU’s position is set out in the article as explaining financial strains in World Cup years and framing the Nations Championship as a mechanism to offset those losses; it adds that the pandemic crystallised these priorities for the Six Nations and Sanzaar unions, shifting emphasis from strengthening emerging nations to safeguarding established unions’ futures. The commentator argues that the creation of this competition flows from that change in priorities.
to global tournaments, the article asserts that the pool stages of next year’s World Cup will be “plagued by washouts” because very few sides can challenge the ten partnering unions, and that the quarter-finals will predominantly feature those same nations. It concludes by noting that, 11 years on from Japan’s 2015 shock over South Africa, the established order appears no closer to being challenged and the new F10 arrangements only reinforce their position.