Rugby-England overcome weather delay for emphatic test victory

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - An experimental England side completed a clean sweep of their Americas tour with an emphatic 40-5 victory over the United States on Saturday.

Curtis Langdon, Luke Northmore and Cadan Murley all scored tries as England were 19-0 ahead at halftime while Jack van Poortvliet, his replacement Harry Randall and debutant Gabriel Oghre added three more tries after the break. England captain George Ford put over four conversions and Charlie Atkinson one.

The Americans scored their only points on the final whistle from a line-out break finished off by Shilo Klein.

The start of the test at Audi Field, watched by some 19,000 spectators, was delayed for an hour by a weather alert and the players were taken off for a further half-hour when the referee ordered both teams off the field in the 29th minute because of a lightning warning.

The disruptions, plus high humidity, had little ill effect on England, however, as they dominated the clash and might have posted a more emphatic scoreline were it not for handling errors.

Having beaten Argentina in two tests earlier this month, despite ceding 13 players to the original British & Irish Lions squad and a further two subsequent replacements, England used six new caps against the U.S. with an eye on increasing selection options for the World Cup in two years’ time.

"The conditions were difficult but it was a good group effort and a huge experience for the new players," said Ford after the final whistle.

The U.S. next month will start the Pacific Nations Cup, which serves as qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.