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| England: (26) 40 |
| Attempts: Willis, George 3, Daly, Robson; Cons: Farrell 5 |
| Georgia: (0) 0 |
Hooker Jamie George’s hat-trick helped England to a comfortable six-shot victory against Georgia in their first game at Twickenham since March.
Flanker Jack Willis opened the scoring on a dream start for his debut, before George went through twice on mauls.
Elliot Daly added a quarter before the break after an impressive midfield break from Jonathan Joseph.
George completed his hat-trick with a replica of his first two scores before Dan Robson lunged at him.
England are now at the top of their Fall Nations Cup group and have two more group games against Ireland and Wales before facing a yet to be determined opponent from Group B to decide the final standings.
Disciplined England win a first-half bonus point
England had not played at Twickenham since defeating Wales in the Six Nations eight months ago, before the coronavirus brought rugby to a halt.
With the stands empty, all the pressure was on the players to put on an entertaining performance and make up for the lack of atmosphere in South West London.
So it looked promising when captain Owen Farrell sent a cross kick to Jonny May, but the winger hit him to miss an early scoring opportunity.
The Georgians heroically held England at bay, rewarded with cheers from their substitute bench instead of 80,000 at Twickenham, but Willis finally found his way after 15 minutes.
The 23-year-old’s debut had had many spine inches before the match and completed the perfect debut narrative as he maneuvered his legs, twisting and turning to cross the test line.
The lack of fans wasn’t the only change at Twickenham. English rugby made its way into the 21st century when recent number one Head & Heart played to celebrate the try, with the usual Sweet Caroline soundtrack absent.
England’s backline stalled as Georgia continued to put up a good fight, but George eventually crossed on the back of a maul after an England lineout in the corner.
Head coach Eddie Jones had talked all week that England’s tactical discipline was more important than fireworks against their level two opponents and his team continued to get the basics right.
The third attempt mirrored the second when the mallet advanced and George crossed again.
Things took a more exciting turn when Joseph, who was on the wing for the day but said he had free rein to get into the game, pushed his way into midfield.
He sent the ball to the right and Daly was at the end of the line to run and score. That was the last play of Joseph’s game when he limped out and was replaced by Joe Marchant.
Rain slows down the hosts’ progress in the second half
The wind picked up during the break and rain began to fall, slowing down England’s momentum.
Willis’ debut, which he had been waiting for since injury robbed him of his chance before the South African tour in 2018, came to an early end when he was replaced by Ben Earl in the 47th minute.
With little going on for the hosts on the field, Jones continued working on his bench as props Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler replaced Ellis Genge and Will Stuart.
Some life was breathed into the game, as Georgia had its best chance of the game thanks to a full kick from Daly.
The Eastern Europeans kicked the corner but their maul was stopped by Charlie Ewels and England soon returned from the other end.
Once again, they turned to George’s proven method and the hooker did it again, capitalizing on the power of his fellow forwards in a carbon copy of his first two scores.
England continued to increase the pressure and Robson picked up the ball from a ruck and fired through two tackles to cross for England’s sixth and final try.
Soon after, Robson opted to kick the ball rather than keep playing when the clock turned red and the tune to The Greatest Showman rang as the Twickenham DJ signaled his approval of the home team’s performance.
Man of the match: Jamie George
‘You can’t hit the big one after maul attempts’ – what they said
Jamie George, prostitute from England, speaking to Amazon Prime: “It was a great team performance. The most pleasant thing for me was that, as for the forwards, we went up to the plate.
“It’s something we take pride in. We’re back here at Twickenham, massively missing the crowd, but we’re constantly trying to push it with our set, so it was great to get over the line.
“You can’t give him the biggest one after maul attempts! I was happy to keep it low-key.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, England’s head coach Eddie Jones said: “Georgia obviously came out and wanted to play a certain way, and we wanted to show a point where they couldn’t beat us in scrum.
“When you play in these conditions it is of enormous importance and if you have the opportunity to keep the ball, it is a way to score tries.
“Ireland will come here with a plan. In the last few games we have probably had the advantage, so they will be motivated to change that.”
England rookie Jack Willis told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. Having this opportunity is something I’ll always be grateful for.
“Eddie has been great since I was at camp and this is a group that is building. I am lucky to be a part of it. I loved every second and hope I get another chance soon.
“There are some amazing players in the back row and it’s my job to try to get into that group.
Georgia Captain Merab Sharikadze on Amazon Prime: “Every time we had the ball we were under a lot of pressure.
“It was a very good experience and I hope that in the next game we will be better handling the pressure. If we want to improve, that is the key.”
‘Georgia lacked creativity and strategy’ – analysis
Former England scrum half Matt Dawson on BBC Radio 5 Live
Georgia took on England to the best of its ability, but did not have the creativity, strategy or game plan to take on England.
The contrast from next week is that Ireland will match England for the longest time.
There will be parity longer than Georgia, so the emphasis will be on the baseline to support the work of the forwards.
Key stats
- Jamie George is England’s first male hooker to score a hat-trick
- The last time England won at Twickenham without conceding a point was when they beat Canada 70-0 in 2004.
- England have won 26 of their last 29 matches in England, drawing one and losing two
Lineups
England: Daly; Joseph, Lawrence, Slade, May; Farrell (capt), Youngs; Genge, George, Stuart; Launchbury, Ewels; Itoje, Willis, B Vunipola.
Replacements: Marchant for Joseph (38), Earl for Willis (46), M Vunipola for Genge (47), Sinckler for Stuart (47), Robson for Youngs (61), Malins for Lawrence (61), Dunn for George (64), Curry for Ewels (64).
Georgia: Khmaladze; Tabutsadze, Kveseladze, Sharikadze (capt), Svanidze; Abzhandadze, Aprasidze; Nariashvili, Mamukashvili, Gigashvili; Jaiani, Kerdikoshvili; Saginadze, Tkhilaishvili, Gorgadze.
Replacements: Gogichashvili for Nariashvili (46), Bregvadze for Mamukashvili (46), Kaulashvili for Gigashvili (59), Giorgadze for Gorgadze (59), Javakhia for Kerdikoshvili (64), Lobzhanidze for Aprasidze (65), Jalaghoniaid for Tkhilavilze 72) for Tkhishvilze (65) (79).
| November 14: England v Georgia, 15:00 GMT at Twickenham |
| November 21: England v Ireland, 15:00 GMT at Twickenham |
| November 28: Wales v England, 16:00 GMT at Parc and Scarlets |
| December 6: Final weekend – England v TBD, 14:00 GMT at Twickenham |
