Cowan-Dickie scores in England win
By Mark Stevens
22/9/19
Luke Cowan-Dickie’s late try ensured England claimed maximum reward from their Rugby World Cup opener against Tonga in Sapporo.
The Exeter Chiefs hooker latched onto a pass from Jonathan Joseph to power through for England’s fourth try in their 35-3 victory in Pool C of this year’s tournament in Japan.
Earlier, Eddie Jones’ side had claimed tries from Manu Tuilagi (2) and Jamie George with skipper Owen Farrell kicking the remainder of their points.
Tonga’s solitary response was a first half penalty from Newcastle Falcons scrum-half Sonatane Takulua.
Four years on from their first-round exit on home soil, England - who also included Exeter Chiefs back Henry Slade in their match-day squad - were keen to put on a commanding, clinical performance against the Pacific Islanders, particularly after the All Blacks had thrashed them 92-7 in a World Cup warm-up earlier this month.
But the Tongans, led by big-hitting loose forwards Sione Kalamafoni and Zane Kapeli, proved difficult to break down at the Sapporo Dome, and it was only rampaging centre Tuilagi's tries that gave England an 18-3 advantage at half-time.
His first score was down to pure power, bursting off the back of a five-metre scrum and dragging defenders with him over the line.
The second, on the half-hour mark, was a demonstration of blazing speed and intelligent timing, Tuilagi making up ground on a flying Jonny May to accept an inside pass and race clear to touch down.
With a combination of basic errors and indiscipline robbing England of momentum, they had to wait until the 56th minute for their third try, as hooker Jamie George went over off the back of a driving maul.
England looked set to kick on from there but a combination of basic errors and indiscipline robbed them of momentum, before Cowan-Dickie found his way over in the final ten minutes to claim the all-important bonus point try.
On occasions thought the contest, coach Jones was caught on camera thumping his desk in fury after yet another mistake gifted the Tongans a penalty.
"There's a lot of mosquitoes up there, I had to whack a few," said Jones when asked about his reaction. "Look, I get emotional, I get angry, I get excited, I get disappointed -- that's all part of coaching."
The Australian, who guided Japan to a stunning World Cup victory over South Africa at the last World Cup, said he was proud of the way his side stuck to their task when things were not going their way.
"Sometimes rugby is like that, the ball just doesn't stick. We left a number of points out there, but I was so pleased with the attitude of the players.”
Captain Farrell was also delighted to get off to a winning start.
"A lot to work on, a lot to build on but to come away with a bonus point win at a World Cup is always a good start," he said, adding that England had used the kick-and-chase tactic well to nullify Tonga's physical threat.
"Tonga are a very physical team and to give them targets to hit would be playing into their hands. I thought we chased well and got some opportunities off the back of it.
"There's still some mistakes that we can look at and get better at, but that's the exciting thing, we still have got a lot more in us."
"That's two “tests in a row we haven't conceded a try."