Marcus Smith stars as England thrash Japan in Tokyo

Marcus Smith gave an all-action first-half performance as England thrashed Japan 52-17 in Tokyo on Saturday ahead of two Tests against the All Blacks.

Preferred at fly-half to Fin Smith, the Harlequins playmaker scored a try and set up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry Slade for two more before the break against an inexperienced Japan side coached by former England boss Eddie Jones.

Chandler Cunningham-South also scored on his first Test start, while Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall and Sam Underhill crossed the line in the second half.

Charlie Ewels was red-carded at the death for the visitors, who gave away 17 penalties and also had Marcus Smith sent to the sin bin.

England will face the All Blacks in Dunedin on July 6 and Auckland on July 13.

Head coach Steve Borthwick said his players had done well in sweltering conditions in Tokyo but would need to play better against the All Blacks.

"You can't give that number of penalties away, we know that," he said.

"We can't give New Zealand the space we gave Japan today.

"To produce that off a couple of sessions together has been very impressive, but we will need to go up several levels."

Borthwick said he could call up a stand-by player, with Ewels facing a disciplinary hearing early next week that could rule him out of the New Zealand trip.

The lock's dangerous challenge on Japan captain Michael Leitch earned him the unwanted distinction of becoming the first England player to be sent off twice.

Ewels was also red-carded in his previous game for England.

"It's challenging -- this Test match was played at a thousand miles an hour," said England captain Jamie George.

"I've got nothing but sympathy for Charlie in that situation."

- England take control -

England's number 10 shirt is up for grabs on the tour, with Owen Farrell ineligible after deciding to continue his club career in France and George Ford injured.

England started slowly but Smith staked his claim in impressive fashion, gliding through the Japan defence after a line-out midway through the first half for a stylish try.

The 25-year-old then turned provider, picking out Feyi-Waboso for a try with a long pass before kicking into space to set up Slade after the half-time hooter.

Smith was quieter after the interval and blotted his copybook with a yellow card for a badly timed tackle.

He said his team deserved credit for taking their chances after an aggressive start from Japan.

"We stayed in it, we fought for each other even on our line multiple times," said Smith.

"When we had opportunities we took them. We were ruthless and clinical, which is what us backs want to do."

It was a chastening start to Jones's second stint in charge of Japan, after handing starts to four debutants including university student Yoshitaka Yazaki at full-back.

The hosts salvaged a measure of pride with late tries from winger Koga Nezuka and Takuya Yamasawa.

"It was a pretty tough game for us today," said Jones, who took England to the 2019 World Cup final.

"England are a strong, powerful team, but I was really pleased with our set-piece work, which kept us in the game for a long period of time.

"We've been working on little things in our attack which created opportunities, but we weren't able to finish them," the Australian said.

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