Acting skipper Luke Eves was among the try scorers as England Under-20s opened their IRB World Junior Championship campaign with a 43-0 win over hosts Japan.

The Bristol centre, captaining the side in the absence of Leeds flanker Calum Clark, led by example as England brushed aside their opponents in treacherous conditions in Tokyo.

It was an ideal start to their Pool B campaign for last year's runners-up and tournament second seeds England.

And England achieved their crushing six-try victory despite briefly being reduced to 13 men during the second period.

Harlequins prop Joe Marler was sent off for striking early in the second half, before fellow prop Bob Baker from Wasps was yellow-carded for handling on the floor.

But England had too much power and quality for Japan, with Eves scoring the pick of their tries in the first half.

"It's always tough to play with 14 men but I think we managed to control the ball well and to keep the score at nil was a great achievement," said the Bristol youngster.

"The major difference in the scoreline is that we stuck to our plays and when we had the ball we didn't force the passes.

"Overall we're delighted with the win against a Japan side who defended brilliantly at times."

England's other tries came from Bath flanker Josh Ovens, Harlequins' Chris York and George Lowe, Sale's Carl Fearns and Northampton flanker Courtney Lawes. London Irish full-back Tom Homer missed just one shot at goal as he racked up a personal haul of 13 points.

England coach Mark Mapletoft was delighted with his side's start to the tournament and said: "Six tries in those conditions represents a pretty good start and to keep the opposition scoreless is pleasing. It had been hosing down all day and they did remarkably well playing the hosts first up in a competition halfway round the world.

"I was a little bit disappointed with our discipline and that's something we need to work on ahead of the other games. We can't give away penalties against better teams.

"That said, we scrambled well in defence after missing a few first-half tackles – and credit to Japan, they really tested us and broke our defensive line a few times.

"We worked hard on trying to have that cutting edge in attack with quick ball and looking to hit runners in space. I thought we showed a lot of ambition."