England's Jordan Crane tries break the tackle of a Fijian defender
Fr-X Gutton/IRB.
9 JUNE 2006
England got off to a solid start at Vichy's Stade Louis-Darragon on Friday with a 34-8 win over Fiji.
With Toby Flood's kicking from hand keeping John Elliot's men on the front foot in the second as the heat told, the English dominated possession and much of the territorial battle and put Fiji's defence under much pressure to score four tries to Fiji's one.
Fiji's had, in fact, come first through Vonowale as the uninhibited Fijians looked to take advantage of any early nerves, centres Lovobalavu and Vonowale applying a physicality in midfield, but Flood kicked the penalties to bring his side back into the game and then laid the territorial platform on which they built their lead in the second half.
Tries came for Robshaw, Diggin and Crane, and Flood made sure again with the conversions. A good start.
Quotes
Dorian West, England coach : "We're very happy with this first win in as much as we scored four tries and secured the bonus point. Fiji played well. Physically they were very strong."
Matt Cornwell, England captain : "The Fijians caused us problems. We were a lot more decisive in the second half - the first match is always tough to get through.
Waqa Etuate, Fiji coach: "We played better in the first half than after the break. We had some problems communicating with the referee but we made too many handling errors. We'll need to analyse our mistakes but I'm satisfied with my side."
John Covu, Fiji captain: “Essentially we were playing a team of professionals. We had to adapt to the climate, to the European game but I'm not going to make excuses for the loss. We'll be better against Australia."
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