The home side struggled for control from that point and it wasn’t until the final quarter after Fiji closed to seven points that England pulled away following the introduction of former NRL star Sam Burgess, Billy Vunipola, his brother Mako and half-backs Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell.
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The Pacific Islanders also copped a yellow card to their halfback Nikola Matawalu as a penalty try was awarded after 12 minutes, and England scored again 10 minutes later through fullback Mike Brown’s close-range effort.
England held most of the ball but Fiji defended with discipline not usually associated with them.
All these odds are correct on www.oddschecker.com as of the time of publishing, and remember – bet responsibly. The try was initially given, but controversy followed as replays on the big-screen showed Matawalu had knocked-on in the act of scoring.
England accelerated into a 15-0 lead courtesy of an early George Ford penalty, a penalty try from a rolling maul and a Mike Brown score in the corner after Tom Wood stole a Fijian line-out five metres out and Jonathan Joseph’s quick hands created space out wide.
When Brown dived in for his second try eight minutes from time, the game was over as a contest, but by that stage England had been severely tested already.
England face Wales in their next Pool A match at Twickenham on 26 September and, after his substitutions worked so effectively, Lancaster hinted at changes to the starting XV. It was incredible to score two tries in my first World Cup on home soil so that is a dream come true and something I will look at with fond memories but for now I am not too pleased with myself with the errors I did make.
Substitute Billy Vunipola scored with the final play of the game to secure his side a bonus point.
He also paid a visit to the players at Durbar Court in London along with the Prime Minister David Cameron and former England worldwide , Jason Leonard.
However Fiji turnover the resulting scrum out half Ben Volavola put in a perfectly weighted cross field and Nemani Nadolo out jumped Anthony Watson to catch the ball and ground it.
England wing Jonny May said “we could have won a bit better, but it is a potential banana skin out of the way” ahead of games against Australia and Wales in the Pool of Death. “I was trying to build their belief that they can go on and win the tournament”.
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“The bonus point might be hugely important”. Fiji was not able to use its backline very well with England seemingly doing most of the running. “Everyone is desperate to play their part and when we came on there was still a game to win”.
