Rugby World Cup 2019: How England mauled the USA on their way to comfortable victory

England destroyed the USA in defence and attack, particularly at the maul

If you could accuse England of a slow start in their first World Cup game, this was the very opposite.

The USA barely escaped their own 22 in the first half, with England relentless and brutal in defence and attack.

Eddie Jones had talked up a fast start in the build-up to the game, suggesting England used something of a rope-a-dope against Tonga, and he got what he desired in Kobe.

They were dominant, playing with real strength and speed, particularly up front. The USA have built a solid side on the back of their strength in the forwards, but they were out-gunned against this battle-hardened and beefy England pack.

Right from the first kick-off, England were on it. Piers Francis should have been given at least a yellow for his opening tackle, with his shoulder contacting the head of the tackled player with little mitigation, but his firm shot set the tone.

England jumped out to a 19-point first-half lead, building around their forwards in over-powering a potentially tricky USA side.

While it was largely England’s backs that caught the eye in the warm-up games, it is in the pack that this team’s strength lies.

Of particular strength are the second rows. Jones can choose between four genuinely world-class options at lock, a fine position to be in as a coach. England’s quartet are all balanced players, capable in a number of roles, and all have upped their game in the lead-up to the tournament. Jones can choose any of them in combination and not weaken the team.

Against Tonga he opted for the long-limbed, athletic ball-carrying duo of Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje; against the USA the masters of the nitty-gritty – Joe Launchbury and George Kruis.

Kruis and Launchbury set the tone, particularly at the maul. Two finer destroyers defensively you will not find, and they dismantled the Americans’ attempts to form mauls of their own repeatedly in the first half.

This was crucial. The USA’s game plan relies on their maul. They use it to provide a platform from which they build for territory, with solidity in the drive affording Shaun Davies space and time to cultivate his box-kicks.

England repeatedly stalled and slowed the USA maul, with Kruis and Launchbury swimming up through the middle to latch on to the ball, bringing it to floor legally, and preventing Davies from getting the ball to kick.

This meant the USA never gained any territory. England targeted Davies around the fringes of rucks, too, and that meant Paul Lasike, wrecking ball centre rather than playmaker, was forced to kick a number of times. Davies kicked, by my count, only twice in the first half, far less than he typically would.

England also had the early edge at scrum time, unsurprisingly. Joe Marler and Dan Cole are the two best pure scrummagers in the squad, and the early loss of David Ainu’u did not aid matters for the USA.

England therefore dominated the territory battle. If the USA were to have any hope of an upset they needed to force Eddie Jones’ side to play from inside their own half. Without solid and secure set-piece ball, there was little the Eagles could do to implement their game plan. England asserted themselves.

England mauled all over the USA on their way to victory (Getty)

They also used the maul in attack, with Launchbury and Kruis again leading the way. England went to their tactical kicking game often, with George Ford hitting the corners and a typically well-organised kick chase pushing the USA back. They would have lineout ball often – Luke Cowan-Dickie threw 12 in all in the first 40 minutes – and with Kruis such a consistent option aerially, they had reliable possession from the back of it.

And then they would maul. And maul some more. The USA had little answer to England’s power, even when the set-up was not ideal. They could not stymie England’s repeated charges, with Launchbury and Kruis at their unromantic but destructive bests at the head of the line.

Twice England drove the USA over their own line, with Billy Vunipola and Luke Cowan-Dickie the beneficiaries at the back of the maul. The two tries helped set England on their way to a comfortable bonus point, as their set-piece dominance tired the USA defence and enabled Jones’ side to go wider in the second half to widen the margin of victory,

This England team is proving game-by-game that they can win in different ways. They have proven in the past an ability to play outside of structure, and devastated Ireland in the warm-ups using set-piece strike moves. With the driving lineout going so well, teams will now have to put extra focus and extra bodies into defending it, in turn opening space elsewhere.

This was a showing that proved England can simply outmuscle a side. That is an ominous sign for the rest of the contenders in Japan.

The USA are not a bad team. It is little more since a year since they beat Scotland. But they could not cope with England’s power.

It was, if you forgive the pun, a mauling.