England notched up a record 11th consecutive test victory when they finished their five-match tour of North America with a 48-19 defeat of the United States yesterday.
Clive Woodward's side had been expected to blow the USA Eagles apart on their way to an English record for consecutive wins. But the scoreline was not as large as the pundits had forecast.
Down 33-5 at halftime the Eagles hit a purple patch just after the break to score a second try for Jone Naqica and one from Juan Groebler. Grant Wells struck two conversions for the US.
Overall, however, England's pace and handling skills and ability to keep the ball alive was too much for the Eagles.
They ran in eight tries with two each from Leon Lloyd and Pat Sanderson and other scores from Dorian West, Josh Lewsey, Joe Worsley and Lewis Moody. David Walder struck over four conversions.
England manager Clive Woodward acknowledged that his side had not played as well as they might have. "I think the sense of making history made some of the guys nervous. But we still played with a lot of ambition and that is important for us.
"Part of the reason we did not score as many tries as we had wanted was the USA defence which especially after the interval was immense. They also scored three very good tries" said Woodward.
In Tokyo today, Wales defeated Japan 53-30 in their second test match, the last game of the tourists' five-game series.