England vs Tonga LIVE: Rugby result and reaction from 2021 autumn international fixture today
Follow all the latest updates from Twickenham as Eddie Jones’ side begin their autumn campaign
England responded to the loss of captain Owen Farrell to a positive Covid test by overwhelming Tonga 69-3 in their Autumn Nations Series opener.
The first 82,000 full house at Twickenham for 20 months because of the coronavirus pandemic noisily celebrated a 11-try rout led by Jonny May, Ben Youngs and Jamie George, who each crossed twice.
Victory was completed despite a disrupted build-up that saw Farrell withdraw as fly-half and captain after testing positive for Covid with confirmation of his absence delivered only 90 minutes before kick-off.
George Furbank was promoted to chief conductor for his fifth cap and a rookie who is more accustomed to playing full-back rose to the occasion by showing several attacking flourishes until he was replaced by Marcus Smith.
The intention had been for Farrell and Smith to form a playmaking axis but Covid and Smith’s leg injury sabotaged that plan and instead the Harlequins prodigy had to wait until the 53rd minute to step off the bench.
Smith entered the fray at a time when England were becoming scruffy in the face of successful Tongan spoiling but his arrival gave Eddie Jones’ men a second wind and he picked a brilliant support line to finish a break by man of the match Henry Slade.
The 22-year-old’s afternoon was marred only when he was elbowed on the floor in the 70th minute by Viliami Fine, who was sent off as a result.
England vs Tonga: Owen Farrell out
The big news of the afternoon is in with confirmation Owen Farrell will miss the game after testing positive for Covid.
Northampton’s George Furbank will now start at fly half and Mark Atkinson is in line to make his England debut as he is named on the bench.
Courtney Lawes will captain the side.
Jones said: “As Owen is unavailable to us, we’ve made these changes to the team to face Tonga today.
“It’s a great chance for the team to see how we adapt to challenges and keep focused on preparing for a big game. We can’t wait to play in front of a full crowd at Twickenham.”
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage as England are taking on Tonga in the first of three Autumn Internationals at Twickenham as Eddie Jones gears up his side for matches against Australia and South Africa to come.
The two teams have only met on three occasions in the past, most recently at the 2019 Rugby World Cup when England dominated to win 35-3.
Fly-half and captain Owen Farrell’s positive Covid-19 test caused disruption in the build-up to the game. “We’ve got a good leadership group and a good group of players,” said England forwards coach Richard Cockerill.
“Things get thrown at you and you have to deal with the adversity. We have a resilient group and this is a good test to make sure that whatever happens, we perform and do exactly what we want to do.”
Tonga have reinforced their team by calling up players from the Gallagher Premiership and Top 14.
The Pacific Islanders were overrun 60-14 by Scotland at Murrayfield but as that match fell outside the international window, they were unable to pick some of their more established names.
French clubs are most heavily represented in the pack where starts are given to Bordeaux prop Ben Tameifuna, Toulon flanker Lopeti Timani, Grenoble lock Tanginoa Halaifonua, Agen hooker Paula Ngauamo and Pau prop Sigfried Fisi’ihoi.
Follow all the latest from Twickenham throughout the afternoon.
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