England continued their unblemished start to the 2023 Rugby World Cup with a 71-0 mauling of Chile in their third Pool D encounter at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.
Henry Arundell managed five tries for Steve Borthwick’s men, who also registered through Marcus Smith (2), Theo Dan (2), Bevan Rodd and Jack Willis, while Owen Farrell inched ever closer to breaking Jonny Wilkinson’s all-time points record.
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Consigning their recent attacking woes to the past, a much-changed England team – who retained just three starters from their win over Japan – wrapped up the bonus point with a rampant first-half showing
Straight from a scrum, England worked the ball out to the right for Arundell to cross the line with 19 minutes gone, before Dan registered from a line-out only four minutes later.
Arundell doubled his tally for the afternoon on the half-hour mark, as Chile were caught napping after an offside, allowing the 20-year-old to score a carbon copy of his first effort.
The bright Marcus Smith masterminded England’s fourth try, as the ball found its way to Rodd to power through, and the former’s effervescent performance was then rewarded on the stroke of half time, as he latched onto a smart grubber kick through the Chile defence to score his first try of the tournament in the corner.
The returning Owen Farrell added three conversions in a first-half mauling, and within five minutes of the second, Chile lost Matias Dittus to the sin bin, and Dan powered through the pack from the line-out for try number six.
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With Dan searching for a hat-trick, Arundell completed his treble into the 47th minute – latching onto Elliott Daly’s kick after Franco Velarde failed to gather – and just 13 minutes later, the World Cup debutant chipped the ball over the top and controlled an awkward bounce to register his fourth of the match.
The Racing 92 starlet had a hankering for more, though, and he was fed by Smith to add a fifth with 69 minutes on the board, and there was time for his fellow protege Smith to register his second three minutes from time before Jack Willis burst through a gap seconds before the end.
England’s final Pool D match comes against Samoa in Lille on October 7, while basement side Chile round off their World Cup against Argentina in Nantes in seven days time.