TJ starts England tour with a win

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs forward Tom Johnson played the full 80 minutes as England kicked off their South American tour with a 41-21 win over a South American select side in Montevideo.

Johnson, who also figured for Stuart Lancaster's side in their warm-up clash with the Barbarians seven days earlier at Twickenham, was heavily involved throughout and showed he was fully back on song having recovered from the knee injury he sustained in Exeter's Heineken Cup clash with Leinster back in January.

It was, however, Johnson's back-row colleague, Billy Vunipola, who stole the headlines as he helped himself to a six-minute hat-trick during the first half.

In their first ever match on Uruguayan soil, an inexperienced England side - which is also being coached by Exeter boss Rob Baxter - were in clinical form against the Consur representative XV.

Full-back Ben Foden also went over twice, while there were also tries for skipper Tom Wood and Paul Doran Jones. Debutant Stephen Myler converted three of the tourists' seven touchdowns.

England will now head to Argentina, where they will play two Tests against the Pumas. The first is on June 8 in the northern city of Salta, while the second will be played a week later in the capital Buenos Aires.