England's Henry Slade in action with Canada's Cooper Coats.PETER CZIBORRA/Reuters
Canada absorbed its second rugby beatdown in a week Saturday, conceding 10 tries in a 70-14 loss to England.
The 23rd-ranked Canadian men’s record against No. 3 England dropped to 0-7-0 in test play with Canada outscored 343-87. England ran in 12 tries in blanking Canada 70-0 the last time they met, in November 2004 at Twickenham.
But Saturday’s match represented only Canada’s second outing since Oct. 8, 2019, at the Rugby World Cup in Japan. It was England’s 16th outing since finishing runner-up to South Africa at the World Cup.
Canada was coming off a 68-12 loss to No. 6 Wales at Cardiff last Saturday. England beat the 16th-ranked U.S. Eagles 43-29.
The Canadian men are using the July test matches to prepare for the start of World Cup qualifying this fall.
Canada coach Kingsley Jones had wanted a more composed start after watching his side wobble midway through the first half against Wales. And while Canada responded to a first-minute England try, it had no answer as the half wore on.
The Canadians trailed 35-7 after 24 minutes and went into halftime down 42-14. It was one-way traffic in the second half.
Under constant pressure, Canada conceded penalties and was unable to halt England’s rolling maul from the lineout with hooker Jamie Blamire usually at the bottom of the pile with the ball.
Blamire scored three tries in his first England start with Newcastle Falcons teammate Adam Radwan adding three of his own on his England debut. Joe Cokanasiga had two tries and Ellis Genge contributing a single for England, which was also awarded a penalty try. Marcus Smith added nine conversions.
England had two more tries called off after video review.
Smith, a 22-year-old fly half with England champion Harlequins who earned his second England cap Saturday, heads to South Africa next after being called up by the British and Irish Lions as injury cover for Finn Russell.
Ross Braude and Kainoa Lloyd scored for Canada. Peter Nelson booted two conversions.
Both teams had players sent to the sin bin in the first half.
England was missing 12 players who are on tour in South Africa with the Lions. Coach Eddie Jones has also rested several veterans including George Ford, Jonny May and Ben Youngs for the summer test series.
Eddie Jones handed debuts to Radwan, centre Dan Kelly, lock Harry Wells and No. 8 Alex Dombrandt. England had 12 debutants in the win over the U.S.
The home side had a dream start with Canadian lock Conor Keys penalized for not releasing the ball after receiving the opening kickoff. England kicked for touch and, from the lineout, drove over the goal line with Blamire touching down for a converted try in the first minute.
Canada had chances soon after, attacking the English end. But England halted an attempting rolling maul and then Cooper Coats was unable to finish off a two-on-one in the corner.
Canada tied it up in the 10th minute, with Braude darting over on a quick-tap penalty after England was penalized at the scrum.
Another bungled kickoff cost Canada. England was awarded a penalty try in the 13th minute after Reegan O’Gorman was judged to have illegally brought down a maul. Adding insult to injury, O’Gorman was sent to the sin bin.
Radwan, a speedy winger, found a hole in the Canadian defence two minutes later to score on his debut. Smith’s conversion made it 21-7.
England kept the scoreboard ticking over with Cokanasiga touching down in the corner in the 20th after Genge rumbled through the Canadian defence. Four minutes later Cokanasiga, a six-foot-four 247-pound winger, ran over Nelson for another try, prompting a smile from Eddie Jones in the stands.
A bloody Canada prop Jake Ilnicki had to leave in the 30th minute for repairs after taking a Lewis Ludlow knee to the nose at the breakdown. The incident was reviewed by the television match official with the England captain sin-binned.
England was warned for repeated infringements as Canada kicked for touch on the ensuing penalty and attacked the English try-line. After the Canadian forwards tried to batter their way over, Braude spun the ball wide and Lloyd beat fullback Freddie Steward to touch down in the corner in the 33rd. Smith’s conversion cut the lead to 35-14.
England, taking advantage of another penalty, scored again on the stroke of halftime with Blamire finishing off a rolling maul.
Genge added to the try total in the 46th minute, steamrolling a Canadian defender. The six-foot-one, 257-pound Leicester Tigers prop ran for 102 metres on the day.
England added tries by Radwan (50th and 61st) and Blamire (59th). Canada, meanwhile, was warned for repeated infringements in the 54th minute.
Canada also played England at Twickenham in December 1994 and August 1999, losing 60-19 and 36-11, respectively. The two sides also met there in October 1983 but England did not award caps for the 27-0 victory.
The English starting 15 went into the match with a combined cap count of just 129 with centre Henry Slade (39), Genge (29), lock Charlie Ewels (22) and flanker Sam Underhill (23) accounting for 113 of those.
The 15 Canadian starters totalled 204 caps with 53 of those coming from prop Djustice Sears-Duru. The pack had a combined 159 caps going into the match while the backs numbered 45.
Kingsley Jones made two changes to the Canadian forward pack with O’Gorman shifting from blindside flanker to second row in place of the injured Josh Larsen. Corey Thomas of the Los Angeles Giltinis, born in Australia but eligible for Canada through his Edmonton-born father, started at No 6.
NOLA Gold centre Lockie Kratz, a 21-year-old from Oak Bay, B.C., started and won his first cap. Houston SaberCats prop Liam Murray earned his first cap off the bench.
Lucas Rumball captained Canada with Toronto Arrows teammate Ben LeSage as vice-captain.