England kick on in Amor’s absence

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JAMES RODWELL could not have asked for a better start to his term as acting head coach as England came through day one in Hamilton unscathed with two wins.

Having Simon Amor away for the Six Nations made little difference to England, who were top of their pool ahead of their overnight match against Japan.

A 24-19 win over Kenya kicked off the tournament for Rodwell's men, who welcomed back Tom Mitchell for the first time this series following injury.

They trailed early to a Willy Ambaka try buy Ollie Lindsay- Hague replied three minutes later. Kenya moved ahead through Ambaka and another try immediately after finished by Andrew Amonde.

In his record-setting 448th match, Dan Norton then produced the goods before the break to leave England trailing 19-12.

England's defence held firm in the second half and Will Edwards was able to cross for two tries in a show of resilience which would be present again in their next match against South Africa.

Blitzboks captain Stedman Gans and emerging threat JC Pretorius marched South Africa into a 14-0 lead, but it was Norton again who crossed just before half-time to give England hope with a length-of-the-field run.

Tom Bowen and Phil Burgess then turned the tables on the Blitzboks in the second-half. England's ability to convert their three tries paid off as a late Justin Geduld try went without a crucial conversion which would have drawn them level.

“It was nice to rebuild over Christmas and get some of the old guys like Tom Mitchell in the squad,” said Norton, who moved ahead of New Zealand's DJ Forbes in the most match appearances records.

“Great endeavour and great effort from the guys in both these games today. There is a lot of experience coursing through our team.”