New-look England put Fiji to the sword
POOL C
England…………… 48pts
Tries: Issacs 6, Halliwell 14, Hall 20, 37; Pollock 25, Cousins 31, 75; James 60
Conversions: Coen 6, 14, 26, 60
Fiji………………………11pts
Tries: Naivalu 83
Penalties: Basiyalo 3, 35
DESPITE making 13 changes to their starting XV, England secured a second victory in a row by dismantling Fiji.
Mark Mapletoft's side followed their six-try comeback victory against Argentina with another stellar attacking display as they notched eight tries in Cape Town on Thursday.
England flanker Finn Carnduff and scrum-half Ollie Allan were the sole survivors from their win over Argentina, and captain Carnduff said: “We were great for the first 40 and went in at half-time and said we wanted to come out and play more of the same, but Fiji came back out on top, and we were punished at the end.
“Our penalty count was poor for large periods of the game, and we need to improve on it. I think today showed strength in our squad depth, and rotation is key in a tournament like this. There were some outstanding debuts today. Now, we turn our attention to South Africa.”
It was a poor start for Fiji, with Ebenezer Navula shown a yellow card for a crocodile roll. Despite the sin bin they opened the scoring with Isikeli Basiyalo slotting a penalty.
England responded in typical fashion with a powerful driving maul getting them over the line, with hooker James Issacs claiming the score.
Fiji tried to play wide however their players were getting isolated. As a result, England were able to dominate at the breakdown, earning two early turnovers, which gave them easy field position with Ben Coen kicking his men downfield.
England hit again with a strong running line from tighthead James Halliwell, cutting through the Fijian defence and bumping off attempted tacklers to finish under the sticks.
Despite the discussion of Fijian flair, England also brought a flowing attacking style. Quick breakdown balls allowed for continuous breaks and post-contact metres.
A scrum penalty and a quick tap from Carnduff meant England got the ball out fast to winger Angus Hall, who used his dancing feet, stepping past four defenders to get the ball just over the line for a try on debut.
The bonus point try was a thing of beauty. From the scrum, Toby Cousins broke the defensive line and found the offload for the early replacement Henry Pollock, who used his blistering pace and, despite being tackled, kept fighting and regathered his feet to score the try.
Fiji were punished for their mistake as England broke from their own half, with Cousins gathering his own chip and chase down the wing to finish for the try in the corner.
Discipline for England began to slip with the try tally going up as they conceded multiple penalties in a row. Fiji felt the only way to get points on the board was to take the safer option, and this time, Isikeli Basiyalo doubled their points tally to six.
Hall got his second try just before half-time as he picked off a Fijian miss pass in the wide channel and ran it in at the corner.
Despite the scoreline, the Fijians started the second half much stronger than they finished the first, getting over the gain line more frequently, however they still found it difficult to find that clinical edge in the final third.
England were penalised, though, for too many offside penalties even after they had been warned with Harvey Cuckson being shown yellow.
With the replacements coming on and the pitch becoming more difficult, the game became much scrappier. The sides traded knock-ons and penalties, with no scores for the opening 20 minutes.
Eventually, it was back-rower Kane James who got England's seventh as he broke from the base of the scrum and fought through the would-be tacklers to get over the line.
England's scrum dominance with the replacement front row was a sight to behold in the second half, compared to the attacking flair of the first. It set up Cousins' second try of the match as England released him down the short side following another strong set piece.
James was shown a yellow card in the 80th minute for repeated England infringements as their discipline slipped and moments later Fiji got their only try of the game courtesy of Benjamin Naivalu.
Fijian captain Nalani May said: “We had our plans but didn't execute. It comes down to poor core skills, but that final try gives us confidence.”
