World Cups are not won in week one but England would have settled for their current position when they flew out of Heathrow earlier this month. Two convincing early bonus-point wins, 80 points and 11 tries banked plus no serious injuries is not a bad platform from which to build when the Pool C pressure ramps up against Argentina and France over the next fortnight or so.

High hits and Ford’s finesse: five things learned from England 45-7 USA | Gerard Meagher Read more

Eddie Jones’s side have also conceded only one try in 160 minutes, scored in the closing seconds of this one-sided contest by a USA side who had previously endured a fruitless evening in most regards. Jones’s players were supposed to be still weary in the wake of Sunday’s opening game against Tonga but instead their forwards had far too much in the tank for their outclassed opponents.

With the captain, George Ford, and Lewis Ludlum to the fore, England’s eventual seven-try victory was also notable for the tournament’s first red card, shown to the USA flanker John Quill in the 70th minute for a blatant shoulder charge to the head of Owen Farrell, and, potentially, a first-minute challenge by Piers Francis on the USA full-back Will Hooley. While Quill could have no argument about his dismissal, Francis’s hit was a borderline case that attracted no censure at the time. The Northampton centre will hope it stays that way.

There was absolutely no question, however, about the evening’s most lethal weapon. At times the Eagles had no answer to their opponents’ close-range driving game and only a clearly slippery ball prevented England from running complete riot. Had Jones’s side taken all their chances, it would have been a landslide but two second-half scores by Joe Cokanasiga helpedto secure a convincing margin anyway. At half-time the stadium public address blasted out Take Me Home Country Roads and, privately, the Eagles’ players probably felt as if they wanted to head back to West Virginia as well.

There was certainly never any danger of rugby’s equivalent of Belo Horizonte, where the USA famously beat England 1-0 in the 1950 football World Cup. England’s selection of Ford and Will Heinz at half-back would surely have impressed corporate America but otherwise there was very little to delight US television viewers.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest USA’s John Quill was dismissed after this no-arms challenge on England’s Owen Farrell. Photograph: ITV Sport

Nothing went right for the Eagles from the outset. This should have been a memorable occasion for the prop David Ainu’u, the second youngest front-row to start a Rugby World Cup match at 19 years and 310 days old (beaten by Argentina’s Federico Mendez at 19 years 63 days), but the fates had other plans. His evening lasted only two and a half minutes before he had to limp off, the game’s first scrum having twisted and buckled over the top of him.

It left his replacement, Olive Kilifi, to face the prospect of being shaken and stirred for 77 minutes and England instantly seized on their opponents’ early misfortune. Upping the tempo they successfully stretched the Eagles’ defence and Ford skipped through a sizeable gap to score between the posts with only five minutes on the clock.

England’s forward power relative to their opponents’ was already looking ominous and the only minor surprise was that it took another 20 minutes for them to register their second try. This time it came from an unstoppable driven lineout, finished by Billy Vunipola, after Ford had opted to go for the corner rather than kick a straightforward penalty.

A 14-0 lead was the sort of cushion England had been seeking on a sultry, humid evening beneath the closed roof of this nicely proportioned, atmospheric stadium. While they still conceded a handful of early penalties, there was far more snap to their play than during their opening game against Tonga and, moist palms or not, they also held on to the ball on a more regular basis.

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Another strong collective drive soon paid more dividends for the Exeter hooker, Luke Cowan-Dickie, who has now scored four tries in his past six matches having failed to make it on to the scoresheet in his first 11 Tests. From 19-0 up at the interval the only question was how many points England would score and whether they could avoid injuries. Farrell was lucky Quill’s crass shoulder did not cause serious damage and, when Cokanasiga surged over for his second try five minutes from the end, it appeared the Eagles would leave completely empty-handed.

A scrambled late try for the replacement Bryce Campbell was some consolation but not for their coach, Gary Gold. “We feel we let ourselves down badly today,” said Gold. “We’re a better rugby team than that. We probably missed 40 tackles and you’re not going to win rugby games against class teams doing that. I’m proud of the guys that they didn’t roll over but we were taught a lesson. We lost every single aspect of the game.”

The former Bath and Worcester coach, however, reckons they may not be the last team to suffer at England’s hands. “They carried on doing what they’re really good at: suffocating and strangling the opposition, with George as the puppeteer.” Jones and his team do not always weave the prettiest patterns but they are a reliably awkward side to beat.