Watch: England smash Aussies 40-16 to reach World Cup semi-finals

Wing Jonny May produced a quickfire double and captain Owen Farrell was perfect with the boot as England stormed into the World Cup semi-finals Saturday with a thumping 40-16 win over Australia. May celebrated his 50th England cap with his 26th and 27th tries in Oita, while Farrell kicked 20 points for England, who equalled their biggest ever margin of victory against their fierce rivals and move on to face either New Zealand or Ireland in the last four. “We did what’s needed,” said Farrell. “We had the lead and obviously Australia were throwing everything at us. We wanted to play the game at our pace, not theirs, and we did that in the second half.” Scrum-half Ben Youngs added: “We’re happy with today, but the exciting thing for me is that I know there’s more in this team.” Fears England could come into the match undercooked, after their final pool game against France was washed out by last week’s devastating typhoon, proved unfounded. May’s early salvo and Farrell’s eight-from-eight kicking meant England exorcised the demons of their traumatic early World Cup exit four years ago—one of the lowest points in English rugby history. It also extended England’s winning run over...