England ended their run of five straight defeats with a comprehensive 59-14 victory at Twickenham on Sunday, running in nine tries.
The hosts have had a disappointing Autumn series, suffering close defeats against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, but didn't look in any danger of losing their sixth straight game against former coach Eddie Jones' side once Ben Earl crossed for the opening try inside the first 10 minutes.
England were rampant with two tries each from hookers Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie, while Sam Underhill, Ollie Sleightholme, George Furbank and Tom Roebuck also crossed over, as flyhalf Marcus Smith made seven of his nine kicks.
Japan were outclassed for much of the game but crossed for two of their own tries. Scrumhalf Naoto Saito scored and converted in the first half and flanker Kazuki Himeno added a second..
Japan did beat Uruguay last week but although they leaked more than 50 points to New Zealand, France and now England, Jones said the outing will help his inexperienced side in the future.
"They are a really young team," Jones told reporters. "We have to accept that it's part of the process. We're obviously disappointed with the result but it's always good to come to the home of rugby and for our players to experience that.
"Having experienced the Stade de France and now experienced Twickenham it's like gold to them. The knowledge of what they need to compete in this area and win in this area."
Jones's inexperienced starting 15 had a combined total of 201 caps, including debutant Seunghyuk Lee, compared to England's 622.
"It's just time and lessons like this," Jones said when asked what his team needed to do to get back to the levels of the 2019 World Cup when they won legions of fans with their high-speed attack. "
"It's a really young team and we have to accept it's a process," he said. "There's been nothing we've massively improved in or got worse at. It's been up and down but we just have to stick at it.
"When you have 200 caps most players have played 10 Tests or less, so when something goes wrong on the field they can't adapt to it." Jones was full of admiration for England's performance and praised his successor Steve Borthwick.
"It's one of those difficult periods. The (England) team is obviously going through transition but I think they're heading in the right direction," Jones said.
"I like the way they want to play. Today they gave a lesson in pressure rugby."
- with Reuters
23°C