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England put 50 on Fiji

10th November 2012 16:27

SKY_MOBILE England v Fiji Charlie Sharples

Two tries: Charlie Sharples

England opened their November Test series account with a decisive 54-12 victory over Fiji, which sets them up nicely for tackling Australia next week.

Following an early blip whereby the islanders held the upper hand, England clicked into gear to claim a seven-try win that will please Stuart Lancaster.

Test debuts were taken by Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola and Joe Launchbury but it was full-back Alex Goode who stole the show on Saturday as he put in an accomplished performance at fifteen.

Much sterner tests are yet to come however.

Fiji had opened the game in impressive style and despite conceding a penalty at the first scrum of the match, they soon settled into a period of huge dominance of both territory and possession. Late call-up from Gloucester, Akapusi Qera was prominent early on alongside Api Naikatani.

Their hopes further improved on nine minutes when England scrum-half Danny Care was shown a yellow by referee Glen Jackson - who was advised by fourth official Craig Joubert - for an alleged tip tackle. It was a tough call from the officials and one that offered the visitors an extra boost, particularly with their 81 per cent possession statistic at that point in the game.

However, England weathered the storm and in fact scored three points while Care was in the bin, Toby Flood knocking over a penalty with 20 minutes played. It proved to be the start of a turnaround in the statistics as confidence started flowing into England's gameplan.

Goode was England's main strike weapon as he vindicated coach Lancaster's decision to move him ahead of Mike Brown. He was popping up in the first line of attack on countless occasions and his one-two combination with Care always kept Fiji's defence guessing.

Two minutes later and the home side had their reward when Care's smart line off the shoulder of Thomas Waldrom led to Manu Tuilagi and Goode combining before wing Charlie Sharples cut back against the grain to beat three defenders. Flood made it 10-0.

England were beginning to turn the screw in front of 82,000 supporters at HQ, and when a Flood penalty on 26 minutes was compounded for the islanders with Deacon Manu yellow carded for repeated infringements, it looked like being the perfect chance to kill the game.

They did just that when a penalty try was awarded before a break then Care almost set up Sharples for his second try only for the TMO to rule "no try" after the ball had hit the flag.

England were over soon after though when Goode's quick thinking on the stroke of half-time saw him tap before setting up Ugo Monye for a simple try that sent them in 25-0 ahead.

Following the turnaround, England came out firing and should have scored to back up Flood's 43rd-minute penalty but Dan Cole chose to run instead of pass. But when a flowing move saw Goode combine with fly-half Flood, England were over with Johnson on the right.

Fiji hit back with a superb solo effort from Glasgow's Nicola Matawalu, who picked off Ugo Monye's pass, stepped past centre Tuilagi and then won the race to his own chip ahead.

England, though, soon had another try on the board when Flood's looping pass sent in Sharples for his second as he gave Lancaster food for thought in Chris Ashton's absence.

Amidst changes, Ben Youngs came on for Care to make the Youngs family the 10th set of brothers to play in the same England side and the first since Steffon and Delon Armitage.

Then, inside the final ten minutes of the match at Twickenham, Tuilagi bolstered England's victory margin with two tries before Fiji replacement Sekonaia Kalou had the final word by crashing over to cap a match that was entertaining from start to finish.

Man of the match: Faultless at the back. Alex Goode wins this one hands down after he slotted into the English line-up with ease. Many had questioned the move to pick him over Mike Brown at number fifteen but Goode silenced all those doubters on Saturday.

Moment of the match: Although it didn't result in a try, Charlie Sharples' grubber down the line which hit the corner flag and bounced back into play could have been brilliant. A close second has to be the try from Nicola Matawalu, a move he had started 60 metres downfield.

Villain of the match: Few incidents to speak of. Danny Care's yellow card was harsh.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries: Sharples 2, Penalty, Monye, Johnson, Tuilagi 2
Con: Flood 4, Farrell
Pen: Flood 3

For Fiji:
Tries: Matawalu, Kalou Qaraniqio
Con: Matavesi

England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Joe Launchbury, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Mike Brown.

Fiji: 15 Simeli Koniferedi, 14 Samu Wara, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Sireli Naqelevuki, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Metuisela Talebula, 9 Nicola Matawalu, 8 Akapusi Qera 7 Malaki Ravulo, 6 Api Naikatani, 5 Apisolame Ratuniyarawa, 4 Leone Nakawara, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Viliame Veikoso, 1 Ratu Makutu.
Replacements: 16 Seremaia Naureure, 17 Setafano Samoca, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Sekonaia Kalou, 20 Iliesa Ratuva, 21 Kelemedi Bola, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Ravai Fatiaki.

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa),Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television match official: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

Comments

trelawney says...

@letsgoboks, Gaan Kak man! No we do not assume to world champs. Only those of SA think that SA are world champs. After their performance against Ireland (have just finished watching it) they should be below 4th on the table.

Posted 19:24 10th November 2012

looseheadcannon says...

It would be nice if we could see these games in America,but DirecTV has screwed the rugby fans again.

Posted 18:11 10th November 2012

letsgoboks says...

I guess this makes england world champs again :D

Posted 17:16 10th November 2012

jappers1983 says...

Hot and cold from England, Tom Johnson though.....another very impressive performance. Got through a serious amount of work both in defence and attack. Exactly what you want from a 6. Goode had an excellent game as well and showed something quite rare in a modern day England player (spacial awareness, and the basic ability of fixing a defender and passing), but Johnson for me was man of the match.

With him, Wood currently there and now Launchbury as well, I would say Croft has his work cut out when he returns to full fitness.

Posted 16:59 10th November 2012

markpat says...

Decent result, but I thought England were very poor and this result was a reflection of Fiji's performance more than England's.

England butchered countless overlaps, especially from 8 and 9. The defence was not that great, either, considering how rarely they were tested. They were very lucky not to be behind by quite a bit after the first 15 minutes,

Need a considerable improvement before next weekend, but a win is a win and will look good in the record books.

Posted 16:45 10th November 2012

melkdave says...

England played alot better than i thought they would ,and showed they deserve the 4th in the IRB rankings imo.TYoungs ,C.Sharples ,D.Careand A.Goode where just outstanding ,and the pack where just dominment in the set piece ,though control of the ball at the scrum needs work by the look of it .Also have to admit was very worried in the 1st quarter,where Fiji dominated possesion and looked very very dangerous ,with powerfull running,offloads ,and good ball control.Overall a good England performance but you can see work still needeto be done.Biiger tests ahead for England so not getting carried away ,buti think that matched showed annother improvment by England ,now annother need next week .

Posted 16:43 10th November 2012

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