Rugby: Ruthless England annihilate Tonga in 11-try thrashing

England's Marcus Smith scores his side's ninth try of the game, during the rugby union international match between England and Tonga. Photo / AP

England overcame the disruption of captain Owen Farrell's coronavirus infection to put down Tonga 69-3 this morning (NZT).

Farrell's positive test on Friday — forcing a new round of COVID-19 tests on the squad and his isolation — was confirmed on the morning of the match.

England debuted usual fullback George Furbank at 10, gave the captaincy to Courtney Lawes, and goalkicking duties to Henry Slade.

The trio never had to worry about losing after half an hour, but England would surely have been more polished if the flyhalf was the veteran George Ford, who was dropped from the squad even though he's tearing up the Premiership for leader Leicester.

Tonga, after losing to Scotland 60-14 last weekend, was reinforced with Europe-based players and debuted three, including former Australia back-rower Lopeti Timani.

They were competitive when it was 15 on 15, but when they were 14 playing England's 15 for 31 minutes, they were outclassed.

When Tonga was down to 14 men, they conceded seven of England's 11 tries, and 45 of England's 69 points.

Wing Solomone Kata, a former rugby international, was yellow-carded on debut for taking out opposite Jonny May while both were jumping for the ball. Also harsh, was the yellow card for fellow wing Walter Fifita for an attempted intercept.

While they were in the sin-bin before and after halftime, England leapt from 17-3 to 34-3.There was no mitigation for replacement wing Viliame Fine who late-tackled Marcus Smith over the sideline then flicked his elbow into his head.

His exit in the 69th minute led to England pouring in four converted tries, including one by Smith, who also converted them all. Smith, the British Lions flyhalf, looked OK to start against Australia next weekend.

Twickenham welcomed a full house of 81,000 for the first time in 20 months, and the subsequent heavy traffic delayed Tonga's arrival and then the kickoff for 10 minutes.The inevitable was also delayed.

England's maul was too powerful, and center Manu Tuilagi created trademark chaos in his first England appearance in 20 months.

Tonga looked like scoring a try only once, near halftime. Fullback Telusa Veainu intercepted Slade 70 meters out, turned opposite Freddie Steward inside out and was about to dive into the right corner.

But Lawes, tracking the play, tackled Veainu and knocked the ball loose, saving the try. Captain for the first time, Lawes was inspirational.