England's best RWC warm up wins
Ahead of England’s Summer Series matches this August, we take a look back at some of their most memorable RWC warm up wins.
2003: England 45-14 France
England concluded their RWC preparations with a heavy victory over France.
An early French sin-bin for a late tackle on Stuart Abbott was punished with two penalties courtesy of Jonny Wilkinson, as France were down to 14 men with three of their own points on the board.
Two quick tries in succession from wing Ben Cohen were assisted by Wilkinson, the second of which saw the fly-half commit two defenders before skilfully lifting an offload into the path of Will Greenwood, who in turn set Cohen on his way to the whitewash.
Clive Woodward’s men kept France under pressure as half time approached, with Jason Robinson making a clean break through the midfield to touch down before the whistle. Wilkinson converted again making it 33-3 at the break, with a personal tally of 18 points.
That pressure resumed early into the second half as France floundered under the attacking prowess of England’s backline when Iain Balshaw picked up the restart and made his way over the line for a superb solo effort.
At 38-3 Wilkinson and captain Martin Johnson were rested, receiving a standing ovation from the Twickenham crowd, and Les Bleus began to show some glimpses of promise through a pair of penalties and a Yannick Jauzion drop goal.
Replacement Josh Lewsey added a fifth try converted by Paul Grayson, and France wing Aurelien Rougerie touched down in the final moments of the match for a consolation score to make it 45-14.
2007: England 62-5 Wales
England made a statement with their largest ever win over Wales, as Nick Easter became the first England No 8 in history to score four tries in a match.
Brian Ashton’s team opened their account through Easter after Shaun Perry slipped down the blind-side weaving through the Welsh defence before getting caught just short of the line when Easter then burrowed over to score the first try inside 15 minutes.
Shortly after a line out in the Welsh corner saw Easter power over again with Jonny Wilkinson adding the extras to put the score 12-0. Steve Borthwick claimed the last try of the half, set-up and converted by Wilkinson who added pressure on the Welsh kicking a penalty after winger Aled Brew was sin-binned following a shoulder hit on Dan Hipkiss ending the half at 22-0.
Ten minutes into the second half and England were up 36-0. Easter was the man over the line once again with the try successfully converted, and five minutes later the pattern repeated. Easter scored followed by a Wilkinson conversion putting the Harlequin in the history books before being replaced by Lawrence Dallaglio.
Wales' only points of the game came courtesy of a Dafydd James try in the English corner after some precise passing put him over. Replacement Dallaglio made a statement in his short time on the field, barreling over off the back of a scrum, and Wilkinson's extras extended the lead to 43-5
The home side dominated the final quarter with further tries coming from Perry, Robinson and Tait.
2011: Ireland 9-20 England
Martin Johnson’s team started strong at the Aviva Stadium after James Haskell broke away from the back of a scrum, passing the ball the wide through the hands of Mike Tindall and into Manu Tuilagi, who slipped through the Irish defence down to the line with less than five minutes on the clock.
England’s lead was reduced as Ronan O’Gara converted a penalty due to a late tackle from Courtney Lawes bringing the score to 7-3, but Johnson’s men showed their power at scrum time, forcing a penalty that enabled Jonny Wilkinson to claim his fifth point. O’Gara and Wilkinson continued to trade penalties until the break, making it 9-13.
Chris Aston was yellow carded early into the resumption, but it didn't phase the visitors. A well weighted Tindall grubber behind the Irish defence was picked up by Delon Armitage on the wing, who duly cantered over to score. Wilkinson’s conversion pushing the lead to 9-20 and confirming a first victory in Dublin since 2003.
2019: England 37-0 Italy
Eddie Jones’ side ended 2019 tournament preparations on a high defeating Italy 37-0 at St James' Park in Newcastle with Owen Farrell scoring 17 points.
Farrell converted three penalties in a wary first half between the teams, as England trialled an experimental attack with Jonny May being the target to reach from kicks over the top of the Italian defence by Farrell and Ben Youngs.
The second half brought the action when Youngs grabbed the ball from the back ofva ruck to touch down after Farrell lofted the ball wide finding Joe Marchant in space on the right wing who sent the ball back inside, Farrell converted bringing the score to 16-0.
Marchant was rewarded less than 10 minutes later as he danced through Italy’s defence to break away for his first international try under the posts which Farrell converted.
Forward Ellis Genge pilled down over the line in the 67th minute after a line out in the Italian corner. Farrell converted, asserting England’s dominance.
Anthony Watson took the last try of the game which came courtesy of Farrell, who timed a perfectly executed pass allowing Watson to pace through the Italian line. Farrell's conversion wrapped up the match, 37-0.
