LONDON – A below par England have recorded a 35-11 bonus point win over Fiji in the Rugby World Cup opener at Twickenham on Friday night.
The atmosphere was palpable in Twickenham as the opening ceremony set the tone of what was to come. England couldn’t have hoped for a better start scoring two tries in the first 20 minutes as Fiji froze on the biggest stage of all.
Things slowly got better for Fiji as they managed to string together some phases before carelessly giving the ball away. With their opening try scored by Nemani Nadolo after a sure try to their scrum half after a 75 metre scramble, Fiji looked to get back in the game as England stalled in momentum.
The Third Match Official played a significant part in the game as referee Jaco Peyper looked hesitant to make a individual decision with a try decision being overturned on view of the big screen.
Despite being largely poor throughout the match, England will be pleased to escape with a bonus point with Billy Vunipola scoring his first ever World Cup try. England Coach Stuart Lancaster will also be very pleased with fullback Mike Brown who was the one back that looked threatening.
However he’ll be disappointed mostly with his team’s performance who were below average with ball in hand and lost far too much ground on their set piece and at the breakdown.