Henry Arundell starred with five tries as England demolished Chile 71-0 in Pool D, while Marcus Smith and Theo Dan both scored twice; Bevan Rodd and Jack Willis also got their names on the scoresheet for Steve Borthwick's side
Sunday 24 September 2023 06:45, UK
England captain Owen Farrell praised team-mate Henry Arundell for delivering a complete performance after the young winger scored five tries in their Pool D drubbing of Chile.
Arundell was named player of the match on his World Cup debut after equalling the record number of tries in a game for an English player during the 71-0 victory at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.
Alongside Arundell's clinical finishing, Farrell - who nailed eight out of 11 conversions - was also impressed by the less glamorous aspects of the 20-year-old's game.
"Everybody knows what talent Henry's got. He's shown it before this game," Farrell said.
"He's shown it for London Irish and he showed it when he got his first touch in international rugby against Australia last year.
"A big thing that Henry showed against Chile was that he got after everything in between - he didn't just finish tries. He got balls back in the air, he chased hard and worked hard for the team.
"Ultimately, he got his rewards off the back of that. He does what he does unbelievably well."
England amassed 11 tries in total against the weakest team in Pool D as their attacking game exploded into life, inspired by Marcus Smith's lively contribution in his first start at full-back.
Despite squandering two early chances, Smith recovered to dazzle Chile with his speed, footwork and creativity and went over twice, including one superb solo effort - providing a cutting edge that indicated he could be a long-term option in that position.
Head coach Steve Borthwick, who brought on George Ford for the last half-hour as England closed out the game with three fly-halves on the field, said: "Marcus did a lot of very good things.
"Playing at 15, there is a different amount of space compared to playing at 10. The way Marcus took those opportunities, found the space and linked with Henry in particular was a positive.
"It shows there is a lot of hard work from everybody on the training field. This squad is packed full of talent and packed full of options and the starting configuration did a really good job after working through a challenging spell.
"To be able to change that during the game and have Owen, George and Marcus on the pitch brought another dimension and certainly gives options for the future."
