Will Joseph waited more than four years for his second England cap. When it finally came at Twickenham on Saturday, he scored five tries in a 78-15 rout of Japan and tied the England record for tries in a single test.
Only four men had done it before him in the long history of England’s national team: Douglas Lambert against France in 1907, Rory Underwood against Fiji in 1989, Josh Lewsey against Uruguay at the 2003 World Cup and Henry Arundell against Chile at the 2023 World Cup. Joseph, a 24-year-old who plays center for the Gloucester club and lined up on the wing against Japan, is now the fifth name on that list.
A long road back to the England jersey
Joseph’s first cap came in July 2022, as a late substitute in a win over Australia in Brisbane during a tour under then-coach Eddie Jones. He was on the bench but unused for the series decider in Sydney a week later. In 2023 current coach Steve Borthwick named him in a 38-man World Cup training squad, then cut him as the group was trimmed to 36.
His club career took its own detour. He came through the academy at London Irish, joining at 13, and was playing there when the club collapsed in 2023. He moved to Harlequins that summer and on to Gloucester for the 2025-26 season. Rugby runs in the family: his older brother Jonathan Joseph also played for England.
So the timeline reads: first cap in July 2022, second cap in November 2026, a gap of roughly 52 months between them, and five tries in the 80 minutes that ended it.
The opponent’s coach knew him well
There was an extra twist in the visitors’ dugout. Japan are coached by Eddie Jones, the same man who handed Joseph that debut in Brisbane four years ago.
What the win means for England
For American readers, this is rugby union, the 15-a-side game, played in the new Nations Championship. The tournament puts the six European teams in one pool and the southern hemisphere powers plus Fiji and Japan in the other, and each side plays every team in the opposite pool once. Teams earn four points for a win and a bonus point for scoring four tries or more.
The haul brought England’s try tally to 39 in five games, the most of any team in the northern pool, and their points difference of plus-134 is the best in that group. They sit second, one point behind France and level with Ireland, after Joseph’s tries took him to five for the competition, one behind New Zealand’s Will Jordan for the overall lead.
The rest of the round produced big results elsewhere. Wales stunned New Zealand 35-28 in Cardiff, their first win over the All Blacks since 1953, and that result reshapes England’s next task. Fans of the other rugby code can catch up on how the England wheelchair rugby league team beat France to win its own World Cup this week, and the rest of the weekend’s action is on the Badiyaa sports page.
Next up: the All Blacks
England host New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday, November 21, in the final round of pool games. The finals series follows at the same stadium from November 27 to 29, with the top team in each pool meeting for the title on the last day. Whether Joseph keeps his place against the All Blacks is the first selection call Borthwick has to make.
Further reading
Image: David Broad, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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