Shambolic England crash to new lows
England………………………… 22pts
Tries: May 9, Smith 57, Marchant 68 Conversions: Ford 58, 69 Penalties: Ford 6
Fiji…………………………………..30pts
Tries: Nayacalevu 43, Habosi 52, Kuruvoli 72 Conversions: Muntz 44, 54, 74 Penalties: Muntz 18, 56, 62
This was not just England hitting rock bottom, it was plumbing the rugby depths.
Steve Borthwick's team are in crisis after becoming the first England team to lose to Fiji – and deservedly so because the Fijians were so much sharper in thought and deed that they fully merited this historic victory at Twickenham.
England are playing not just like a team that is drowning, but one that is buried 20,000 leagues under the sea. They are ghostly shadows of the players they should be, and could not muster enough defensive intensity, cohesion, or accuracy to turn captain Courtney Lawes' great achievement of reaching 100 caps into a celebration.
Instead, it was Fiji who were jumping for joy at the final whistle of this last World Cup warm-up international after scoring three second-half tries to leave England playing catch-up.
England's defensive problems have become chronic, and a team with Fiji's athleticism and flair was always likely to ruthlessly expose any shortcomings – and there was a shedload.
England fell off tackles, missing 27 in this game, and have now leaked 23 tries in six games. Afterwards head coach Borthwick commented: “Ultimately, our defence wasn't good enough, and when they scored, they scored too easily”.
The difficulty is that this has needed fixing for the eight months Borthwick has been in charge, and it is getting worse rather than better, and defence coach Kevin Sinfield is struggling to find a solution.
This is mind-boggling considering that Borthwick has some of the most experienced players to ever pull on the Red Rose shirt in his squad, and it makes you wonder what input they have into England's structure and strategy.
England had some cause for cautious optimism at half-time having carved out an 8-3 lead thanks to a George Ford penalty and a soft try for the recalled Jonny May, to a penalty in response by the outstanding young Fijian fly-half Caleb Muntz.
May's try came from scrum ball when a long pass from Ford gave the veteran wing a tilt at his opposite number, Selestino Ravutaumada, and a simple hand-off saw him accelerate clear for the opening try.
However, any thoughts that a chastened Ravutaumada would go quietly into the background were soon detonated. On the half-hour the wiry Fijian Drua winger made a clean break through the England midfield only for his scoring pass to Fiji's captain, Waisea Nayacalevu, to be correctly called forward by a TMO intervention, and the score ruled out.
Fiji's setbacks mounted when Eroni Mawi, their solid scrummaging Saracens loosehead was yellow carded just before the interval for collapsing an England maul. Instead of losing their way after being reduced to 14 men, the Fijians started the second-half by ripping England's defence open, with the double act of Ravutaumada and Nayacalevu making no mistake this time.
It started with a long Semi Radradra pass to Ravutaumada, who fixed May with a ball-juggle and sidestep. He then scooted round him before putting the long-striding Nayacalevu in the clear with an inside pass.
With Muntz converting, Fiji led for the first time at 10-8 two minutes into the half – and it was a lead they did not relinquish.
England hit back, but a series of forward drives in the Fijian 22 were repelled when Theo Dan, making his first start, was hurled backwards. This resulted in slow ball for Ford and, when his kick was blocked and he was swamped by a defence in which Viliame Mata, the Edinburgh No.8, was prominent, a Fijian penalty put them back in English territory.
The Red Rose error count was high throughout the team, and it was Fijian hands, and heads, that were sharper when they struck again from a solid scrum in the 51st minute.
As bench scrum-half Simeone Kuruvolia broke from the base he was chopped down by Lawes, but got his pass away for full-back Ilaisa Droasese to set up a ruck just outside the 22. With England failing to compete when the ball was grounded it was snapped-up by Vinya Habosi, and the Fijian right wing slipped past Ben Earl before racing over untouched.
With Muntz converting, and then adding a penalty, the visitors led 20-8. What was clear at this juncture, and disturbing from an English perspective, is that Fiji coach Simon Raiwalui has his side better organised than Borthwick despite being in the job for a shorter period.
Part of this is the product of the Fijian Drua outfit that finished in mid-table in this year's Super Rugby competition supplying 14 of yesterday's Fiji starting 23.
It was evident in far better game management, with Muntz giving them attacking shape to enhance their innate flair in attack, and much-improved control in clearing their own lines.
With England trailing it was desperation stakes for Borthwick, and he went to his bench bringing on Marcus Smith for Freddie Steward, and moving Ford to full-back.
He was rewarded in the 57th minute when a Ford chip over the top of the flat-line Fiji defence into the 22 saw Smith sprint to claim the bounce and score between the posts.
Ford converted to narrow the deficit to 20-15, but when a Muntz long-range penalty on the hour made it 23-15 it was still uphill for England.
They responded with one of their few coherent attacks when an England driving maul was stopped, only for a Manu Tuilagi carry to create more momentum. When the ball was recycled Ford's long pass gave Joe Marchant sight of the line, and the bench utility scored in the corner with 68 minutes on the clock.
Ford's conversion made it 23-22, but Fiji were not to be denied. Four minutes later Ravutaumada produced another magic moment, sliding inside May, and making statues of another couple of defenders before giving a scoring pass to Kuruvolia.
With Muntz converting for a six from six goal-kicking haul to round off his team's winning scoreline, and then counter-rucking successfully to foil a last England attempt, he had earned the privilege of booting the ball into touch.
It saw a Fijian team not only make history, but also put the boot into one of the sorriest teams ever to have worn the Red Rose.
Little wonder there were not enough fans to fill the top tier of Twickenham, with the crowd barely over half the 80,827 full house that watched South Africa v New Zealand the previous evening.
No doubt many of them were England supporters desperate for a reminder of what world champion contenders look like.
