England 40-0 Georgia: Jamie George scores history-making hat-trick in Autumn Nations Cup
England defeat Georgia comfortably at Twickenham in visitors' first-ever trip to home of English rugby; Saracens' Jamie George makes history by becoming first England hooker ever to score a hat-trick, while Wasps flanker Jack Willis scores try on his Test debut
By Michael Cantillon
Last Updated: 14/11/20 10:23pm
Jamie George became the first England hooker in history to score a hat-trick as Eddie Jones' side coasted past Georgia 40-0 at Twickenham in the Autumn Nations Cup.
Jack Willis notched the opening try of the day on his Test debut, before George scored twice at the back of dominant rolling mauls and full-back Elliot Daly completed the first-half scoring for a 26-0 lead at the interval.
It took England until just shy of the hour mark to add to their lead, when George - for the third time at the back of a rolling maul - went over for his hat-trick score.
As well as being the first England hooker ever to notch a treble, George is only the third starting hooker in the history of the sport to score a hat-trick after Ireland's Keith Wood vs USA in 1999 and Julian Montoya for Argentina vs Tonga in 2019.
Replacement scrum-half Dan Robson completed the scoring with 12 minutes left, having scored England's sixth and final try.
The early play took the form of repeated England short-range carries and probing kicks in damp conditions as the visitors narrowly avoided conceding a try through desperate last-ditch defending.
It took until 14 minutes for the Georgia dam to eventually burst, as after being squeezed at the scrum, debutant back-row Willis dived over from close-range with Joe Launchbury on his shoulder.
Georgia had cause for celebration soon after when they forced a scrum penalty, turning the tables on the earlier strain their set-piece had been under, but on the whole it was a case of one-way England traffic against a tiring pack.
England, sloppy themselves at times and lacking true thrust and pace within their attack, eventually added two further tries in four minutes - both via rolling mauls with George grounding at the tail just prior to and after the half-hour mark.
On the cusp of half-time, Daly added a fourth try as England displayed - for pretty much the only time in the Test - real width and pace as Jonathan Joseph seared forward and handed on to his full-back for a clear run-in.
If the first half had been damp, the second was laced with torrential rain, which resulted in handling errors between both sides which stemmed the flow of the contest.
Georgia made in-roads into the England 22 with little success, before England added a fifth score and George's third - a near carbon-copy of his previous two efforts at the back of a rolling maul.
Robson added the final try when he sniped from close-range to round off the scoring and a routine victory.
England will now welcome Ireland - who beat Wales on Friday night - to Twickenham next Saturday (November 21), while Georgia will travel to face Wales in Llanelli later the same day.
