On 18th September England open their World Cup account with a clash against the dangerous and mercurial Fiji.
Whilst experts outline the dangers of Wales and Australia, England should tread very carefully and not overlook the talented and athletic threats of the Fijians.
The current Fijian World Cup squad has an imposing and dangerous backline with current heavyweights such as winger Nemani Nadolo (pictured above) whose Jonah Lomu reminiscent physique of twenty stone and 6’5 inches has terrorised international backlines with a current tally of fifteen tries in only nineteen caps.
The side also possesses Leicester Tigers heavyweights Vereniki Goneva and Seremaia Bai both of which have a rampaging approach to the game which has the ability to cause England’s backline significant problems. These man mountains are also supported by a whole host of rangy, powerful and skilful forwards and backs whose primary desire is to throw caution to the wind and play a fast paced running game.
Additionally, the often unstructured and free flowing approach to the Fijians game is a potentially serious threat to the highly structured and methodical approach of Stuart Lancaster’s England side. Whilst England have superiority at set piece, the Fijians will look to avoid engaging England at the set piece and at the breakdown and instead employ their offloading game which will utilise their big ball carries to penetrate England’s stubborn defence.
Furthermore to these threats, England must also remain wary of the Fijians lust to play a wide and expansive game which will bring their titanic wingers into play. Through this unorthodox and fast paced approach to the game, the Fijians possess the potential to muddle England’s game plan by eliminating structure and choosing an offloading and direct running approach to the game that bypasses and restricts England’s major strengths at the breakdown and at set piece.
The avoidance of these two pillars of strength for the English game is likely to result in a compelling encounter where England will look to meet the Fijians head on with earthquake inducing collisions and clinical attacking poise from the electric Johnathon Joseph and Jonny May. Even with victory, England may still be left licking their wounds after their Fijian encounter. With a bruising and physical encounter in store, there is a real possibility of early injury induced exits for the cream of the English crop. The combination of Fijian induced injuries on top of the undoubtedly physical nature of the game may leave England in a weaker position for their imperative encounter with Wales only eight days later.
So, whilst the emphasis is on securing victory against Australia and Wales in Pool A, England must ensure a focused approach to the game to quash the Fijian threat and advance in the tournament.