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Joe Cokanasiga marks first Test in 22 months with brace as England beat the USA

By PA
Joe Cokanasiga runs riot /PA

Joe Cokanasiga toasted his first Test in 22 months with a smart brace as England overcame the USA 43-29 at Twickenham.

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England might have been missing their British and Irish Lions contingent, but Eddie Jones’ men still eased past their west London visitors.

Marcus Smith capped an assured debut at fly-half with a try, with Sam Underhill, Ollie Lawrence, Jamie Blamire and Harry Randall also crossing for the hosts.

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Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, Cam Dolan, Hanco Germishuys and Christian Dyer forced scores for the spirited USA however, in a match that broke up considerably in the second half.

Bath wing Cokanasiga’s last international appearance had come against the USA at the 2019 World Cup, where he suffered a serious knee injury.

After battling back to fitness and form this season, though, the Fiji-born powerhouse marked his Test return with two well-taken scores.

Max Malins suffered an arm injury and was sporting a sling on the bench in the second half, while Lawrence was forced out due to a head knock.

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England v USA - Summer Series 2021 - Twickenham Stadium

Head coach Jones had only opted to put two backs on England’s bench, forcing Wasps half-backs Jacob Umaga and Dan Robson to operate out of position.

Fly-half Umaga had to fill in at centre, while scrum-half Robson deputised on the wing.

Lions tours hand England coaches one chance every four years to cast the Test selection net to otherwise impossible widths.

England v USA - Summer Series 2021 - Twickenham Stadium

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But by declining to select a specialist back-three replacement, and with injuries to Malins and Lawrence, Jones was unable to see either Umaga or Robson in their natural positions.

The talented Wasps duo will hope for a chance to impress in their regular berths in next weekend’s Test against Canada.

The visitors took an unlikely lead through Luke Carty’s well-struck penalty, when Joe Heyes was pinged at a scrum.

England’s riposte was immediate, however, Malins fielding the restart before feeding Underhill who powered into the corner.

England v USA - Summer Series 2021 - Twickenham Stadium

Smith hooked the conversion, in his only off-kilter moment of a fine first half.

Malins picked up his shoulder problem in the act of creating the score though, and was forced out of the clash.

Umaga slotted into the centres with Lawrence out to the wing.

And Worcester powerhouse Lawrence quickly stormed into the corner, courtesy of Freddie Steward’s well-timed scoring pass.

England v USA - Summer Series 2021 - Twickenham Stadium

Cokanasiga then bagged his first try, latching onto Steward’s neat grubber after Randall’s pacy break.

The Bath wing doubled his tally on the half-hour, benefiting from Smith’s delayed pass as the USA defence crumbled.

Lawrence and USA full-back Marcel Brache were then forced out of the contest after a nasty-looking accidental clash of heads.

That pressed replacement scrum-half Robson into action on the wing.

The hosts were in total control with their 26-3 half-time lead, however.

Flanker Fa’anana-Schultz capped a well-constructed driven maul to hand the USA first blood in the second half.

England v USA - Summer Series 2021 - Twickenham Stadium

Carty missed the conversion, but the visitors had immediately cut England’s lead to 26-8.

Newcastle hooker Blamire made a quick introduction to Test rugby to put England back on the front foot, forcing a charge down and then completing a smart score.

Number eight Dolan forced a charge down of his own, however, for the USA’s second try.

Randall was left exposed with no forward guarding his box kick, and Dolan pounced for a soft try from England’s perspective.

Carty’s conversion cut England’s lead to 31-15.

Smith tiptoed in for England’s sixth try, relieving growing tension as the hosts had slipped off the pace.

The Harlequins fly-half missed the conversion, leaving England ahead 36-15.

Randall stepped home for England’s seventh score, with Smith converting from under the posts.

Germishuys powered in for the USA’s third score as England continued to struggle to contain the visitors’ tight game.

Carty slotted a fine touchline conversion, with England leading 43-22.

And the USA powered in again at the death, with Dyer racing in the visitors’ fourth score.

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J
Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
T
Trevor 11 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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