England delivered a backlash in support of under-fire head coach Steve Borthwick as Henry Pollock crossed twice in a record 45-22 thrashing of Australia at Allianz Stadium.
Reports by the Times last week claimed Borthwick had been presiding over a toxic environment, but the seven-try victory appeared to show that the players are still playing for the coach.
First-half tries set the tone
Jamie George, Ollie Chessum and Joe Hayes crossed for first-half tries, before Jack Van Poortvliet went over for the bonus point try after the break.
Henry Pollock, brought on for injured wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso at half-time, crossed for two tries in an unfamiliar position.
Late scores and injury concerns
Ben Spencer then added a seventh late on against a poor Australia side. Australia had Max Jorgensen, Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams to thank for their tries.
Afterwards, Feyi-Waboso was seen wearing a protective boot - leaving England sweating on his fitness moving forward.
Borthwick responds to reports
Prior to kick-off, Borthwick had been asked about the Times' report from Thursday, with the head coach opting not to address it directly.
"I think there's always opinion around the England rugby team," he said. "Always has been, always will be."Our focus this week has very much been upon our preparation. We were excited to get going this afternoon. We only had one week but the players have been excellent.
"Look, our focus has very much been on the rugby. The players and coaches have been great in that regard."
Wales vow to fix lineout
Wales captain Dewi Lake has vowed that Wales will improve their lineout fortunes.
Despite being perhaps their strongest weapon, Wales struggled to make an impact in that area against Japan on Saturday. Instead, the Brave Blossoms managed to steal four of Wales' 16 lineouts - with another lost due to a not straight throw.
"We have got to be better," said Lake."When we did get it right, we got joy from that area, but we would have loved to go to our driving maul more often.
"You have to credit Japan in that area for the defensive work they do."They're number one in the world for a reason in this department, but we're always going to look at ourselves first."
France facing fly-half crisis
France are facing a fly-half injury crisis, with Romain Ntamack set to miss next week's crucial clash with the Springboks.
The Toulouse playmaker suffered a shoulder injury in Saturday night's 54-17 win over Fiji - with Fabien Galthie having to leave him out of his 42-man squad for next Friday's match against the world champions.
France are already heading into the match without Matthieu Jalibert, while other key players like Thomas Ramos and Emmanuel Meafou are also missing.
Scrum-half Maxime Lucu could feasibly start at fly-half as a result.
Galthie has brought in seven new faces to his squad, with Teddy Thomas, Gaël Fickou, Gaël Dréan, Julien Marchand, Grégoire Arfeuil, Louis Carbonel and Loïc Crédoz all called up.
Damian Penaud is left out once again, having been sent back to Bordeaux-Begles ahead of the Fiji match.
Léon Darricarrère, Nicolas Depoortere, Théo Forner, Oscar Jegou and Charles Kante Samba join Ntamack in pulling out of the squad.
