Fiji beat England for the first time with a 30-22 victory in at Twickenham, in their Rugby World Cup warm-up match on Saturday.
Fiji beat England for the first time with a 30-22 victory in at Twickenham on Saturday as the hosts completed a woeful Rugby World Cup warm-up campaign.
The Pacific islanders 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.
𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗺.#ENGvFIJ | #SummerNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/f3raAYHdKT
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) August 26, 2023
Buoyant Mood
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.
As for the prospect of Fiji making it to a World Cup semi-final, he added: “No comment on that one, we will see on the first match against Wales.”
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.
“One on one they made us look silly at times but we need to improve and we have got two weeks to do so.”
AFP
