While Twickenham erupted to greet the all-important fourth try in England’s 35-11 Rugby World Cup victory over Fiji on Friday, the man who scored it, Billy Vunipola, admitted afterwards that he did not know there was a bonus point to be had.
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The star man for England was two-try hero Mike Brown, and Lancaster said his style of play inspires those around him.
Nadolo, Fiji’s goal-kicker, might have wished he had taken a conversion missed by Volovola especially as a Ford penalty soon made it 18-5 to England.
Lancaster’s side will need to step up their performance against the likes of Wales and Australia if they’re to qualify from Pool A, but the most important thing was to get points on the board early on, and England did just that.
Brown might have had a third after reaching Sam Burgess’ offload late on, but was stopped short before Vunipola secured a scarcely deserved bonus point.
Had Fiji landed three straightforward penalties it would have been 18-17 with a quarter of the match to go, and there is no doubt England rode their luck before finally pulling away in the final quarter.
Within 2 minutes of the game kicking off George Ford settled England nerves kicking a penalty after the Fijians collapsed the first scrum.
England had to bring some order to the shapeless play they were producing and the replacement bench was cleared with nearly immediate effect.
The opening salvo in the second half was scrappy.
An opening ceremony that was full of meaning and history launched the 2015 Rugby World Cup at the iconic “home of rugby” – Twickenham Stadium.
England is fielding its youngest team since the 1999 World Cup – 21 of the 31-man squad has debuted since 2011. The game was interrupted by the TMO on too many occasions and I hope that is not a feature of the World Cup, but all in all a great opening game to what will be, i am sure, an excellent tournament.
He surely made coach Stuart Lancaster sit up and take notice with several powerful runs, coupled with some key offloads, to spark the England attack.
Fiji’s lack of an accomplished place-kicker cost them points and showed the difference between the Pacific Islanders and the top-tier nations. “It was a big last five minutes”.
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That is certainly true with England facing a Group of Death with Australia, Wales, Fiji and Uruguay before they even contemplate the knockout stages, where South Africa could be waiting.
