There were pass marks for England’s bright young things in a seven-try victory against USA but not a great deal more than that. Joe Cokanasiga marked his first appearance since the World Cup with two tries and, while there were some impressive individual showings among the new faces, there were also four tries against and ultimately a sense of anticlimax that a thrilling team on paper could not quite deliver the kind of performance expected of them. Admittedly England’s side was raw but the USA have not played since the World Cup, they came together only at the start of the week and were missing their best player, AJ MacGinty, through injury. Seen against that backdrop, and considering the USA won the second half 26-17, this England performance was acceptable rather than exceptional. Eddie Jones selected eight debutants in his starting XV and four more on the bench, meaning England gave out the most new caps in a single match since 1947. He urged all of them to seize their opportunity, to make the jersey their own and, while it would be stretching it to say any of them have managed just that, Freddie Steward looked particularly assured at full-back, every time Marcus Smith was on the ball there was a crackle of anticipation and Harry Randall was sharp at scrum-half despite the odd error. There was plenty of grunt up front – perhaps the most authoritative player was Sam Underhill who was sorely missed during the Six Nations – and the hope must be that there is more fluidity next week against Canada. England had four tries by half-time including a first at Test level for Underhill and Ollie Lawrence. But after a fast start there was a lingering air of rust – at one stage players could be heard lamenting the fact that they had muddled pre-set moves together. They were hardly helped by injuries to Max Malins and Lawrence, not least because of Jones’s decision to opt for a 6-2 split on the bench. “We weren’t tested in the heat of a Six Nations game in front of 80,000 people and the pride of the country on the mantel,” said Jones. “I am certainly pleased with the way they handled it but there are bigger tests to come. They only got mild water poured over them today – we still have to wait and see [what happens] when it gets hot. We are training to help the development of the players to sort out who can handle the game at a higher level and who can’t. We are reasonably optimistic a number of these players are going to be able to make the jump.” The USA opened the scoring with a penalty from Luke Carty on the halfway line but straight from Smith’s restart England had their opening try. Malins fielded the ball wide on the left and dashed his way towards the corner, with Underhill in support to flop over. Malins was injured in the build-up and initially Lawrence moved to the wing, from where he scored England’s second try, dashing down the left after Steward released him. Cokanasiga’s first try came from a trademark quickly taken penalty from Randall, the second from a delightful delayed pass from Smith. England then lost Lawrence before the break after a nasty clash of heads with the USA full-back Marcel Brache, forcing Jones into another change with Dan Robson the next to be deployed out of position on the wing. The USA began the brighter in the second half and Jones will not be pleased at the ease with which England’s opponents drove their maul over the line – Jamason Fa’anana-Shultz awarded the visitors’ first try. It was nonetheless a feather in the cap for Neal Hatley, formerly Jones’s assistant but parachuted in to assist the USA this summer. A flurry of replacements from both sides inevitably disrupted the flow of the match but one of them, the Newcastle hooker Jamie Blamire, had his first England try on debut, barely a minute after coming on. He charged down the USA scrum-half Ruben de Haas and stretched his way over. The USA stuck at it and replied in kind when Cam Dolan charged down Randall and dotted the ball down for his side’s second before Smith’s try, from all of a yard, brought about the biggest cheer of the day. Randall then scored a lovely individual try but two quickfire scores late on for the USA – one a driving maul with Hanco Germishuys, the other a counterattack finished by Christian Dyer – left Jones with plenty to ponder. “I’m very encouraged because of the circumstances and the adversity we went through,” said the USA coach, Gary Gold. “Things could have gone belly-up at half-time. Other teams may have given up the fight.”