After the first two matches on the Rugby World Cup's second day saw New Zealand overpowering Italy 76-14 and Australia thumping Japan 91-3, most people expected a similar result for England against the USA in Lens. But after the first 30 minutes, the reigning champions were struggling with a 6-3 lead against a scrappy Eagles side.

England opened the scoring with Olly Barkley slotting an easy penalty  but the Eagles replied a minute later when Mike Hercus answered with a wobbly penalty reply from 35 metres. For the next 20 minutes, the USA withstood a number of attacks from England while sacrificing only three more points. But when Vahafolaou Esikia was given a yellow card with 10 minutes left in the half, England awoke to the opportunity and capitalised with two tries and another penalty to go into the break 21-3 up.

After a try a few minutes into the second half by England flanker Tom Rees on a tap-and-go, the rest of the game was a largely unseemly affair, with both sides dropping balls, missing tackles, and forgetting to mount any sustained offensive attack. Both had long breakaway runs, but they resulted from gaps in defences setting up late, rather than well-designed offence. In handling the ball, both sides whipped around risky and often errant passes, with the ball bouncing around on the deck far more than should be the case at this level.

'Brian Ashton could find nothing positive to say about the match, while captain Phil Vickery likened the mood in the changing rooms to a funeral'

Barkley was named Man of the Match, but it was more of a function of playing less badly than his teammates. For the USA, Hercus, flanker Todd Clever, and No.8 Henry Bloomfield all had standout games.

After the match, it was clear that the score didn’t give the whole picture. Eagles coach Peter Thorburn put the game in perspective when he said: “To us, it was a moral victory.” And Hercus said he was “very proud of the team’s performance”. Both Thorburn and Hercus stressed the chances the USA should have taken when presented on the field. On the flip side England coach Ashton could find nothing positive to say about the match, while captain Phil Vickery likened the mood in the changing rooms to “a funeral”.

While the USA can’t be happy with an opening loss, their performance earned them the respect of spectators and opponents alike and gives them a boost for the matches against Tonga and Samoa. For England, next Friday’s match against South Africa has only become harder as they must find reason to believe in themselves after a lacklustre display.