Henry Arundell scores five in England’s 11-try Rugby World Cup rout of Chile

It took until the stroke of half-time but Marcus Smith duly sprinkled some of his trademark stardust to suggest that this might not be the last we see of him in the No 15 jersey. Taking a fizzed pass from Owen Farrell, who enjoyed a composed return to the side, Smith swiftly moved through the gears, chased his own grubber and splashed over for the try of the match against Chile.

It was one of 11 for England against the lowest ranked team in the tournament – Henry Arundell helped himself to five – but nonetheless it was a demonstration of just how well Smith and Farrell can combine from fullback and fly-half respectively. With George Ford joining the pair for half an hour – Farrell shifted out to inside-centre – maybe three is the magic number for England.

Equally, Chile is not the best case study to gauge Steve Borthwick’s plans for the quarter-finals – England have all but qualified with only a bizarre sequence of potential events including a heavy defeat by Samoa preventing them from advancing – but at least England gave something resembling a gung-ho approach a go here. It wasn’t always perfect, and Farrell and Smith did not always dovetail effectively, but after they were jeered during the bonus-point win over Japan, this performance felt like a response of sorts.

There were no boos here, though plenty of Mexican waves and while Chile battled manfully, they became the third side to fail to score a point across an entire match at the World Cup. Their captain Martín Sigren plays for Doncaster in the Championship but only he and four teammates are based outside Chile. This is their first ever World Cup appearance and as such it is difficult to really assess England’s afternoon.

In the positives column we can certainly put Theo Dan’s performance at hooker. His was a standout showing, combining hard-hitting carrying with neat footwork to repeatedly give England the platform from which to attack. Farrell’s return to the side was a seamless transition, which is no mean feat given he last played on 12 August. The way that he tackled Freddie Steward in the warm-up – leaning in with the shoulder and dropping the rested fullback who did not look best pleased – suggested he was itching to get back into the action but his was a serene performance. He ended with 16 points which leaves him one short of Jonny Wilkinson’s national record of 1,178.

Chile so very nearly made it to the end of the first quarter without conceding. They were just 10 seconds shy when Arundell went over in the right-hand corner, a simple finish after Farrell’s floated pass. England had threatened before that but, as has been the case throughout the tournament, the final pass went astray.

Set-piece dominance gave them the platform from which to attack and the intent to keep the ball in hand, to avoid kicking from the first whistle. The trouble is, there are still a few layers of polish missing from this England side. Smith found himself in space on the left and really ought to have gone himself. Instead he flung a wayward pass to Max Malins and the chance was wasted.

That inability to take chances gave Chile a pressure point to exploit and they found a defensive frailty with England susceptible to passes back on to the inside. The lock Clemente Saavedra galloped through a gaping hole at one point and, just for a moment, you wondered if England were in for an uncomfortable afternoon. All the more so when Elliot Daly’s pass, intended for the onrushing Kyle Sinckler, hit the turf and Matías Garafulic pulled off a fine 50:22.

Arundell’s try settled England down, however. Dan’s robust carrying ensured they could repeatedly get over the gainline and it was the Saracens hooker next on the scoreboard at the back of a rolling maul. He then turned provider with a fine pass for Arundell to again finish off in the right corner before Bevan Rodd sealed the bonus point. England were moving through the gears at this point and Malins flicked a delightful pass out to Arundell, before Smith’s moment of magic came on the stroke of half-time.

Dan got the ball rolling again after the interval, once again from the back of a maul, before Arundell added three more – one from a grubber from Daly which the Chile wing Franco Velarde had been unable to gather, another after a fine pass from Ford and a third by collecting Smith’s pass.

England, and Smith in particular, were cutting loose at this stage and he had his second before Jack Willis, another impressive performer, raced under the posts for the final try, Farrell converting for a personal haul of 16 points.