Saints star Mitchell on the mark as England start Summer Series with a win
Saints star Alex Mitchell scored a trademark try as England began their Summer Series campaign with a 52-17 win against Japan in Tokyo on Saturday.
Tommy Freeman and George Furbank also started for the Red Rose, while Fin Smith came off the bench.
But it was Mitchell who once again caught the eye with a razor-sharp finish.
Tries from Chandler Cunningham-South, Marcus Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry Slade had given England a 26-3 half-time lead.
And further scores, from Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall and Sam Underhill, secured victory over the Brave Blossoms.
“I think the first 15 minutes was a real challenge," said England boss Steve Borthwick. "The speed at which Japan played and the way they moved the ball really tested the players.
"The players fought hard in the first 15 minutes and were clinical thereafter and Marcus Smith was key to that.
“Given how little our backline has played together, I think the potential for building a great team out of that group of players is enormous.
"As they spend more time training and playing together, I think they’re going to be a very good side and they’re going to challenge a lot of teams."
England will play two Test matches against New Zealand, starting with a clash at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday, July 6.
And Borthwick said: “The performance level will need to rise when we face New Zealand in two weeks’ time. As will the discipline; you can’t give that many penalties away – we know that.
"You also can’t give New Zealand the space we gave Japan.
“At the same time, I expect our performance to go up a level.
"We had one session all together in England before we flew, and we’ve had one formal session in Japan since we arrived and got over the jetlag. So, I think producing today's performance after a couple of sessions together has been very impressive from the players.
"We will need to go up several levels and I expect us to go up several levels when we face New Zealand."