England launched their World Cup bid by running in 12 tries in the 84-6 destruction of Pool C minnows Georgia.

Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood both scored twice in the second half with the rest of the tries shared around by Mike Tindall, Matt Dawson, Steve Thompson, Neil Back, Lawrence Dallaglio, Mark Regan and Jason Robinson.

Jonny Wilkinson landed seven out of seven kicks – five conversions and two penalties – before making way for Paul Grayson early in the second half.

The Northampton fly-half added four more conversions and kept moving forward with the ball in hand as Clive Woodward’s side registered the highest score of the tournament so far.

The win was also England’s second best in World Cups – surpassed only by the 101-10 victory over Tonga in 1999.

And the only low note of the evening was the lower back pain that forced Kyran Bracken to give up his place on the bench to Andy Gomarsall shortly before the start and the knocks sustained by Dawson and Tindall.

The game started with Wilkinson and Malkhaz Urjukashvili trading penalties and it took 14 minutes to break down some dogged early resistance from a big Georgian pack.

The underdogs defended in depth during long passages of play and couldn’t be budged when England attempted to hammer their way over from an early lineout.

But everything clicked into gear once Ben Kay stole the ball on Georgia’s throw with the attack going wide for Mike Tindall to slide into the corner.

Wilkinson converted and England hit top gear with three converted tries in the space of seven minutes.

Dawson streaked over from a five metre scrum, then Thompson touched down after Kay’s charge downfield and Back secured the bonus point after just 26 minutes when the ball squirted out of the back of the Georgian scrum.

Trevor Woodman came close to scoring his first test try only to have the ball hacked away as he stretched for the line and Wilkinson added a second penalty – his sixth successful kick – as England went in 34-3 ahead at the break.

They had made two changes before the break, with Andy Gomarsall and Dan Luger on for Dawson and Tindall respectively.

Leeds hooker Regan then took over from Thompson up front, where England dominated and shoved the Georgians back for Dallaglio to ground a pushover try on 45 minutes.

Wilkinson converted to complete his efficient night’s work with Grayson taking over.

The Northampton fly-half missed with his first attempt on goal after Greenwood finished off a sustained series of attacks by diving into the right-hand corner for the team’s sixth try of the night.

Greenwood then created the seventh for Regan when he broke and flipped the ball inside for the hooker to slide over with Grayson converting.

There was some respite for Georgia when Paliko Jimsheladze stroked over a penalty after 56 minutes.

But then Cohen got in on the act, collecting Grayson’s cross-kick to score and adding a second by accelerating past the cover on the right to register his 25^th test try.

Greenwood took his career tally to 27 with his second of the night followed by Grayson’s third successful conversion.

And England kept going until the final whistle with Robinson stepping inside to the line before Luger completed the scoring.