England 35-11 Fiji
by David Nicholson
at Twickenham

ENGLAND won the opening match of the eighth Rugby Union World Cup, gaining a bonus point and bagging a win by a margin of 35-11.

But the scoreline didn’t tell the whole story as Fiji made England look decidedly ordinary in the forward areas where the home side is meant to be dominant.

The scrum was decidedly below par and both Wales and Australia will have noted the weakness.

What was even more worrying for the hosts was the way that the Fijians bossed the breakdown.

Opening matches are often tense and error-strewn as team routines are thrown out by opening ceremonies and unusual kick-off times and this was no different.

The hosts lacked big-match experience and do not have a sufficient cohort of gnarled veterans to take charge and sort out infield problems.

England’s first try came from a driving maul that raced up the pitch at a rapid pace smashing through the Fiji defence before referee Jaco Peyper awarded a penalty try.

Even against lesser opposition the rugby basics of taking the ball through the forwards to win possession, suck in the defenders and then go wide still holds true.

But despite the evidence of their own opening try through the forwards England decided to throw the ball around despite the damp conditions.

The Pacific Island underdogs were very unlucky to have a try disallowed after scrum-half Nikola Matawalu had picked the ball up at a scrum on the halfway line and scorched through to score.

But worse was to come as England lost a scrum on their five-metre line, Fiji kicked and giant winger Nemani Nadola caught and scored.

England coach Stuart Lancaster said it was a “massive relief” to secure a bonus-point victory.

“It was a big occasion and there were a few nerves.”

But England’s bench changed things and a sense of perspective needs to be kept on a weekend when the mighty Springboks were toppled by Japan.

For some of England’s starting 15 they will now have an anxious wait after Lancaster praised his replacements.