Autumn Nations Series | Highlights: England v Georgia

by Bradley West

England got their Autumn Nations Cup campaign off to the perfect start with a 40-0 victory over a resolute Georgia at Twickenham.

Jamie George marked the occasion by making a piece of history as he became the first male English hooker to score a Test hat-trick.

The home side started brightly and in the 15th minute were ahead when Jack Willis marked his debut with a first international try.

Three tries then came in the space of eight minutes before the half-time break as George twice drove over after powerful work from the English pack.

Elliot Daly darted over after a lovely dummy run from Ollie Lawrence to make it 26-0 at the interval with a big score on the cards.

But it is to Georgia’s credit that they knuckled down and defending admirably in the second half, only George’s third score and Dan Robson adding further tries for the hosts.

The result continues England’s momentum after winning the Guinness Six Nations a fortnight ago and they now move onto a potentially pivotal Group A encounter with Ireland.

Meanwhile, defeat may have been expected for Georgia but they won many plaudits for their application and captain Merab Sharikadze believes they will only keep improving as the competition progresses.