10 tries including hat-tricks from Mark Cueto and Chris Ashton, helped England secure a comfortable win as they finally announced their arrival at the tournament.
England opened their account inside 90 seconds, thanks to a simple penalty from Jonny Wilkinson. England then went straight onto the front foot, moving the ball wide and looking for the offloads, but as in the opening two games a couple of stupid penalties slowed the momentum.
England finally burst into life on 15 minutes, after some good work by the forwards the ball was spun wide. Chris Ashton had too much power for the defence, he split the line and fed Mark Cueto who had the simplest of finishes. Wilkinson couldn't add the extras but England now held an 8-0 lead.
The Sale winger went onto to score a hat-trick within 10 minutes. England got deep into the Romanian 22, the ball was recycled and moved out to Cueto who stepped inside the defence for a well worked score. Wilkinson then added the conversion to give his side a 15 point lead.
Five minutes later England won what seemed to be their first turnover of the tournament and used it well. The ball was moved wide and some good handling by James Haskell and Tom Croft sent Cueto flying into the corner. It was the first English hat-trick at the World Cup since Josh Lewsey got five in 2003 against Uruguay. Wilkinson was again off target with the conversion, score now 20-0.
It was then Ashton's turn to get in on the act, the Northampton flyer took a great inside ball from Wilkinson, he waltzed through the gap to score his third try of the tournament. Wilkinson added the extras to extend the lead to 27.
Three minutes later he got his second of the game, fluid interlinking by Youngs and Louis Deacon broke the line, the ball was shipped to Thompson and he found Ashton who scored a simple try. Wilkinson added the two to extend the gap to 34-0.
Romania did get themselves on the scoreboard before the break, after a confident strike by Marin Danut Dumbrava. At half-time England held a 31 point advantage which their play deserved.
England picked up where they left off, Youngs and Manu Tuilagi combined down the blindside and the Tigers number nine scored after just 20 seconds. Toby Flood who replaced Wilkinson couldn't add the extras but it was the perfect start to the half.
The seventh try arrived just nine minutes later, Tuilagi was again the provider. The Leicester bulldozer smashed through the line and could have gone alone but found Ben Foden who ran in from 20 meters. Flood added the extras to bring the tally up to 46.
It was Tuilagi who got the eighth try, after a quick tap by Youngs the centre got the ball and sliced through the defence showing great power and strength to score. The conversion was added by Flood as England went past 50.
Croft then added the ninth try with 12 minutes to go, some great handling from both the forwards and backs created the space to send the blindside flanker over in the corner. Flood added the touchline conversion and England led by 57.
The tenth try was the hat-trick try for Ashton, some great offloading by Lee Mears and Tom Palmer splintered the defence. As always Ashton was supporting the runners and grabbed his second England triple in the corner. Flood again with a superb touchline conversion and made the score 67-3.
England had more chances before the end but their execution was just a bit off towards the end, which will surely displease Martin Johnson. The final score 67-3 to England, and they have now arrived at Rugby World Cup 2011.
Man of the Match
Manu Tuilagi
Thoughts
You can say what you want about the opposition, but England were impressive with their lines of running and the way the forwards and backs offloaded the ball. Manu Tuilagi's stock continues to rise, his power and awareness in the centres is something England haven't had in a long time. He will be one of the crucial players come the knock-outs.
Chris Ashton looked back to his best, running the support lines that made him one the deadliest finishers in the world earlier in the year. Ben Foden run some brilliant lines from full-back and his link play was excellent.
The Jonny Wilkinson/Toby Flood debate continues to rage on, Johnson still doesn't know himself. The one thing Wilkinson always brought was goal-kicking, but he seems to be struggling in that department now, Flood could get the nod.
The discipline was still an issue though, 13 penalties conceded by the dominant side, this issue needs to be sorted very quickly.
Like South Africa, England put in a performance in their third game, they are not World Cup winners yet, but they are now here and have something to build on. If they play that way against Scotland, but just add a bit of guile then they will run out comfortable winners.
