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Friday Apr 19, 2024
Monday, 21 September 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
England got the result they needed, if not the complete performance, as a four-try 35-11 bonus-point victory over Fiji got the Rugby World Cup started on Friday - though they had to wait until the last second to complete it.
After an early penalty try, fullback Mike Brown added two more before replacement forward Billy Vunipola settled the game in a dramatic finale.
It was by no means plain sailing for the tournament hosts as Fiji defended strongly and carried a threat but England will be delighted to have claimed the extra point that could prove vital in a tough Pool A also containing Australia and Wales.
The first half-hour could not have gone any better for England as they looked sharp and focussed from the off.
A 12th-minute driving maul splintered the Fijian defence, forcing them to drag it down and concede a penalty try.
A suicidal Fiji attempt to hit the back at a lineout on their own five-metre line led to England’s second try as Tom Wood snaffled it and the backs swiftly sent it wide for Brown to score and open a 15-0 lead.
Things then went awry for the hosts as their scrum malfunctioned and Fiji’s livewire scrumhalf Nikola Matawalu had a try ruled out as he dropped the ball on the line having darted 50 metres.
The TMO ruled in Fiji’s favour soon afterwards, however, when winger Nemani Nadolo hoisted his 20-stone (127kg) frame above Anthony Watson to catch a precise cross-kick from flyhalf Ben Volavola.
England next face Wales at Twickenham on Sept. 26 while Fiji head to Cardiff to play Australia on Wednesday.
England’s 13th-minute try in Friday’s Pool A match against Fiji at Twickenham was the second fastest scored in a Rugby World Cup opening match.
South African referee Jaco Peyper awarded the tournament hosts a penalty try after the back-pedalling Fijians hauled down England’s powerful driving maul as it was set to cross the line.
The try came two minutes later than Israel Dagg’s effort for New Zealand against Tonga in the opening game of the 2011 World Cup.
England won the match against Fiji 35-11.
France’s Frederic Michalak kicks a penalty Action Images via Reuters
France’s Rabah Slimani scores their first try Action Images via Reuters
AFP: France’s record points scorer Frederic Michalak snared another harvest Saturday as his country opened their World Cup campaign with a clear 32-10 win over Italy.
The veteran fly-half set up the first try of the match for prop Rabah Slimani and licked 19 points to set up the important win.
Replacement prop Nicolas Mas scored France’s only other try 11 minutes from time. That left them two tries short of a bonus point and already behind Pool D rivals Ireland.
“It was no easy. Italy were tenacious,” said French coach Philippe Saint-Andre, who already knows he will leave at the end of the tournament.
“It was an important victory. Clearly we would have liked the four tries to get the bonus point which would have been the cherry on the cake. But it was a positive day.”
Italy, thrashed 29-0 by France in the Six Nations tournament, were without talisman captain and No. 8 Sergio Parisse who was kept out by a leg injury sustained in a warm-up match against Wales. There were few moments of inspiration from either side in a first half which ended with France 15-3 in front, all the points coming from penalties.
Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton runs in a try Action Images via Reuters
AFP: Ireland coach Joe Schmidt hailed Jonny Sexton as a perfectionist after his astute game management helped the Irish to a 50-7 World Cup demolition of Canada on Saturday.
Sexton notched up 14 points from a try, three conversions and a penalty to take his tally from internationals past 500.
But it was more his kicking from hand and willingness to unleash his free-running backs that had not just Schmidt but also Canada coach Kieran Crowley waxing lyrical.
The playmaker was at the heart of everything in the 55 minutes he played, instrumental in four tries for a 29-0 half-time lead that proved the bedrock of a convincing Pool D victory as the Canadians ran out of steam and conceded three more tries in the second period.
Samoa’s Filo Paulo in action during a lineout Action Images via Reuters
AFP: Samoa captain Ofisa Treviranus led from the front as the Pacific islanders opened their World Cup campaign with a 25-16 win over United States in Pool B on Sunday.
Treviranus scored a battling try and Tusi Pusi kicked four penalties as Samoa stayed comfortably ahead of the Americans throughout the game in Brighton.
“Our discipline was excellent today and the boys were brilliant,” said the captain after both teams knelt and said prayers together following the final whistle.
Predicted big hits quickly materialised after the start with American centre Thretton Palamo leaving opposite number Rey Lee-Ho shaken on the turf in less than a minute. Lee-Ho was sent for a head assessment.
A scrappy opening few minutes, with the Samoans largely testing the USA defence resulted in a penalty to the Pacific islanders and fly-half Pisi slotted it over for 3-0.
Pisi turned creator in the 20th minute. He produced a delightful grubber kick behind the American defence for fullback Tim Manai-Williams -- cousin of All Blacks great Sonny Bill Williams -- to run onto and touchdown for his first try for his country.
Pisi failed to convert to leave the score 8-0 but added a penalty seven minutes later for 11-0 with the Americans once again penalised. The famously ill-disciplined Samoans by contrast had by contrast yet to attract referee George Clancy’s ire.
However, when Samoa came under pressure for the first time Clancy awarded the United States a penalty after a Samoan went offside. Ireland-born fly-half AJ MacGinty converted it for 11-3.
MacGinty, who sprang from the same alma mater as iconic Irish centre Brian O’Driscoll Blackrock College, showed he is not just there for kicking as his vision created a superb try after the US won a Samoan lineout.
He took the ball just outside his 22 and burst through the Samoan defence before offloading to Seamus Kelly, who cut inside and found captain Chrius Wyles who went over for the try -- MacGinty sent his conversion wide. The Americans, though, again donated points to the Samoans with an infringement and Pisi added the three points for a half-time 14-8 lead.
The Pacific islanders extended their lead early in the second-half NManai-Williams ripping the ball free of wing Takudzwa Ngwenya close to the Americans tryline. The game began to peter out with 15 minutes remaining, a succession of set pieces prompting the crowd into a rendition of ‘Sweet Chariot’ to keep themselves entertained.
Samoa left the Americans needing two converted tries to even force a draw with 10 minutes remaining as Mike Stanley -- who had replaced Tusi Pisi - kicked a superb penalty from wide out on the left for 25-11.
They scored one try as replacement Chirs Baumann went over but MacGinty failed to convert.
