England have finished their Rugby World Cup campaign with a comfortable 60-3 win over Uruguay at the Etihad Stadium, despite having already been eliminated from the tournament.
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There was concern for the host nation in the opening minutes of the match as Felipe Berchesi gave Uruguay a surprise lead, kicking a penalty after Danny Care took a kick in an offside position.
It did not take the host nation long to take the lead as Jack Nowell set Anthony Watson up for his first try of the night with a kick down the left, leaving the winger to ground the ball just short of the dead-ball line.
England started to dominate possession midway through the first half, leaving Nick Easter to add two tries in four minutes, benefiting from a Geoff Parling pass for the first before diving over in the corner moments later.
Uruguay started to see more of the ball shortly before half time, but finished the opening 40 minutes a man short as captain Santiago Vilaseca was sent to the sin bin for coming in from the side in a maul.
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England soon added a fourth at the start of the second half while facing a 14-man Uruguay, with Watson scoring for a second time following a scrum.
The host nation started to take advantage of the tiring Uruguayans, scoring three more in quick succession as the hour-mark approached, with Henry Slade and Nowell both using their pace to run over in the corner, before Easter completed his hat-trick, easing over from another maul.
There was time for Nowell to also complete his hat-trick with a couple of tries in the final 10 minutes, taking the ball from a George Ford pass, before finishing off a team effort a few minutes later, with the final ball coming from Slade, while a penalty try with the final action of the match took England's total to 10 for the night.
Sian Cowper
