Twickenham (Agencies): Fiji beat England for the first time with a 30-22 victory at Twickenham on Saturday as the hosts completed a woeful Rugby World Cup warm-up campaign.
The Pacific islanders, 8-3 down at half-time, fully deserved their win in a match where both teams scored three tries, with this reverse meaning England head to the World Cup in France on a run of five defeats in six matches. Fiji were 12 points ahead early in the second half and although England closed to within a point, the visitors pulled clear with a try seven minutes from time by replacement Simione Kuruvoli.
England desperately needed a win ahead of a tough Pool D World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9 but instead suffered a defeat that raised fresh questions about their defence. Fiji, meanwhile, will be in buoyant mood in the run-up to a World Cup they begin against Wales — the team they knocked out of the 2007 edition in France — in Bordeaux on September 10. “I am so proud of the boys, this win is for all the people back home in Fiji,” wing Selestino Ravutaumada, the player-of-the-match, told Amazon Prime.
– ‘Not good enough’ –
England captain Courtney Lawes, winning his 100th cap, admitted: “It is just not good enough, we are where we are at the minute and all we can do is push on. “We need to get our attack together, we are just turning over too many penalties and today we didn’t attack well enough.” England kicked-off without regular captain Owen Farrell and No 8 Billy Vunipola following the pair’s recent red cards.
The experienced George Ford, playing at fly-half instead of Farrell, kicked England into an early lead with a penalty in front of a crowd of 56,854 — a far smaller than the attendance of over 80,00 that watched world champions South Africa inflict a record 35-7 defeat upon New Zealand at Twickenham on Friday.
Recalled wing Jonny May ended England’s more than six-hour wait for a try by one of their backs when he fended off his opposite man before going over in the corner in the ninth minute after sharp passing by scrum-half Alex Mitchell. Ford missed the conversion but England were 8-0 ahead.
As rain lashed down upon the ground, Fiji’s first attack ended with Caleb Muntz kicking a penalty. The wet weather, allied to thunder and lightning, made handling difficult. Fiji, renowned for their running rugby, thought they had drawn level through a try by Waisea Nayacalevu but the centre’s effort was ruled out on review for a forward pass. With Fiji down to 14 men after prop Eroni Mawi was sin-binned for pulling down a maul, England pressed for a try of an attacking line-out.
But their defence held firm and England had to be content with an 8-3 lead at half-time. Fiji were level early in the second half when Ravutaumada beat May and found Nayacalevu on his inside. This time the try stood and, with Muntz converting Fiji, despite still being a man down, led 10-8.
They went further ahead in the 52nd minute when left wing Vinaya Habosi burst straight through a ruck for a try. Muntz again converted and Fiji were 17-8 ahead, with the fly-half’s penalty four minutes later extending their lead to 12 points. England pulled a try back heading into the final quarter when replacement Marcus Smith raced on to Ford’s chip ahead. With Ford converting, 2019 World Cup finalists England were now just five points behind at 15-20 down. But following Mitchell’s high tackle, Muntz made it five from five from the tee with a 46-metre penalty.
England hit back, however, when replacement back Joe Marchant went in for a try at the corner. Ford converted and Fiji led by just a point at 23-22 with 12 minutes remaining. But Fiji then scored next after controlling possession following a knock-on at the restart by England replacement scrum-half Danny Care. The side-stepping Ravutaumada proved too much for England’s defence and he sent in Kuruvoli for a try between the posts duly converted by Muntz.
