Japan were overpowered and outmaneuvered by England in a 52-13 loss Saturday that underscored the daunting task ahead of the Brave Blossoms at next year's Rugby World Cup.
The two sides are due to meet again in Pool D at the tournament kicking off next September in France, where Jamie Joseph's men must also battle heavyweights Argentina in their bid to advance to the quarterfinals.
After going toe-to-toe with the All Blacks in a 38-31 loss two weeks ago in Tokyo, the Brave Blossoms surrendered momentum and try-scoring opportunities by conceding 10 penalties to England at Twickenham, including several at crucial moments of the match.
"We made many errors and mistakes," Japan captain Atsushi Sakate said. "We gave away so many penalties and gave them a chance with their lineout, and then attacks in the maul...so I think that's the one thing we need to fix."
Fullback Freddie Steward starred for former Japan head coach Eddie Jones' side, scoring the opening try and pressuring the visitors under the high ball, while fly-half Marcus Smith and outside center Guy Porter each accounted for two of England's seven tries.
Replacement scrumhalf Naoto Saito scored Japan's solitary try in the 58th minute, receiving an offload from Warner Dearns and scrambling across to make it 38-13 after Lee Seung Sin's conversion.
When the sides last met at Twickenham four years ago, Japan took a 15-10 lead into the break before eventually succumbing 35-15. But there was no scare this time around for the hosts, who led 24-6 at halftime and effectively ended the contest with back-to-back tries early in the second period.
Coming off a 30-29 loss to Argentina last weekend that Jones called "Not good enough," England were in the driver's seat from the kickoff.
After Owen Farrell booted them onto the board with an early penalty, Steward crossed for their first try as they quickly went wide from a maul in the 12th minute. The 21-year-old fullback also had a hand in their second try, offloading to set the stage for Smith to go over in the corner.
Successive penalties late in the half allowed Japan to cut the lead to 17-6 via the boot of Takuya Yamasawa, who slotted his second three-pointer after England wing Jonny May was sent to the sin bin.
The visitors could not capitalize on the numerical advantage and gifted England the opening for Porter's try on the stroke of halftime with a turnover near their own try line.
Ellis Genge dotted down eight minutes into the second half and Porter ran in his second try two minutes later to make it 38-6 after Farrell added the extras. A penalty try and a second five-pointer to Smith following the sin-binning of Japanese replacement back Siosaia Fifita further stretched the lead before the final whistle.
"We were always on the back foot and living off scraps a little bit. You've got to take your hat off to the English team in terms of their defense," Joseph said.
The former All Black, who guided Japan to a best-ever World Cup result, a quarterfinal berth on home soil in 2019, said his relatively young squad would learn a lot from the match.
"I still thought it was a really good game for us in terms of experience," he said.
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Rugby: Emboldened Brave Blossoms take their fight to Europe
Rugby: Japan fall short, lose thriller to New Zealand
