A brave Japan pushed Ireland all the way in Newcastle, NSW but fell 20-36, while Fiji 14-man after 40 minutes were overrun by England in Liverpool, England 8-73.

Under-pressure England have provided a swift answer to their critics -- for a week at least -- as they smothered a hugely disappointing Fiji by a record 73-8 in their Nations Championship rugby clash in Liverpool.

Relevant questions about England's line-up, tactics and attitude after the hammering from world champions South Africa in Johannesburg last weekend were pacified somewhat by coming home on Saturday and posting an equally unsurprising 11-try win against outclassed Fiji at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Fiji struggled for possession and could not handle England's scrum, maul and defence. Under pressure, Fiji conceded 12 penalties — nine by halftime — and a red card to scrumhalf Simione Kuruvoli for lashing out with his boot into the stomach of Ellis Genge.

That meant Fiji played the entire second half down a man and England could play wider and be ruthless. Up 35-3 at halftime, England added six more tries, including a hat-trick for replacement flanker Henry Pollock. Fin Smith converted nine.

England tallied a record score against Fiji and their biggest win since beating Chile 71-0 in Lille at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Fiji 8 (Try: Ikanivere; Pen: Muntz) England 73 (Tries: M Smith, George, Pepper, Janse van Rensburg, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso, Pollock 3, Slade, Caluori; Cons: F Smith 9)

Fiji: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Vuate Karawalevu, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Simione Kuruvoli, 8 Levani Botia, 7 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 6 Peceli Yato, 5 Isoa Nasilasila, 4 Tevita Ratuva, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi.
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Livai Natave, 18 Peni Ravai, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Pita-Gus Sowakula, 22 Frank Lomani, 23 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula.

England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 18 George Kloska, 19 Tom Curry, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Noah Caluori.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

A new-look Ireland ground out a 36-20 victory over an energetic Japan in the Nations Championship to stretch their win streak to six.

Five Irish players shared the try-scoring spoils on neutral territory at Newcastle, north of Sydney, to ruin Japan coach Eddie Jones’s return from a four-match ban for abusing match officials.

After their thrilling 33-31 victory over Australia in Sydney last week, where they rallied from behind four times, Ireland tightened up their defence and dominated possession.

But they were still guilty of some silly errors and their set-piece struggled to fire.

They went to the break with a 19-13 lead after a scrappy first-half and stayed focused to complete the job with coach Andy Farrell handing four players – Sean Jansen, Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Bryn Ward – their debut.

It ensured a sixth consecutive win dating back to February, having also beaten Scotland, Wales, England and Italy.

That record will be put to the test next week when they travel to Auckland and an Eden Park cauldron for a blockbuster showdown with New Zealand.

The All Blacks are also two-from-two at the inaugural 12-team tournament, backing up their 34-32 victory over France with a 47-17 romp against Italy.

Japan host Six Nations champions France next, with Les Blues on a high after crushing a hapless Australia 42-26 in Brisbane with a rampant second-half display.

Japan 20 (Tries: Main, Era; Cons: Matsunaga 2; Pens: Matsunaga) Ireland 36 (Tries: Timoney, O’Toole, Henshaw, Jansen, Stewart; Cons: Frawley 3, Byrne; Pen: Byrne)

Japan: 15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Kazuma Ueda, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Yuya Hirose, 11 Taira Main; 10 Ryunosuke Ito, 9 Naoto Saito; 8 Jack Cornelsen, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter; 5 Warner Dearns (captain), 4 Harry Hockings; 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takato Okabe.
Replacements: 16 Hayate Era, 17 Sojiro Otuska, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Michael Stolberg, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Tiennan Costley, 22 Itsuki Kamimura, 23 Sam Greene

Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Ciaran Frawley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Jack Conan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 3 Tom Clarkson, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Tom O’Toole.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Bundee Aki.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)