England have enough to down the All Blacks

STEVE Borthwick's England team have taken their first step of their summer tour and returned with the expected win showing the focus needed to suppress and beat an energetic Japan at home in their own stadium.

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As this is seen as a 'new' England team even though there are only a few uncapped players included in the touring squad, it is a step in the right direction from the results of the past few seasons.

However, because many of the famous names have either moved on or have been dropped, it has at last allowed some of the newer players to stake a claim in the positions they actually play in at club level, rather than just filling a space.

The player who made the biggest impact was Marcus Smith, below, who showed an attacking nous that has rarely been seen in an England team performance for many years which hopefully he can continue and grow.

Having been moved to full-back for a few matches, he was given the chance to run the show from his favoured position at number 10 displaying what he can do for the England team when picked in his right position.

Admittedly the space and time he was given by the Japanese side provided him with the opportunity and enabled him to exploit the space across the field (which he did) to release his backline on a number of occasions.

Japan played more or less to form as expected but were unable to match England's power upfront although they did occasionally manage to build a successful attack through the use of quick ball.