Steve Borthwick’s side played with the weight of the world on their shoulders in their first defeat at the hands of Fiji
e are running out of synonyms for crisis. Turmoil, disaster, catastrophe, disarray, calamity … put them all together and they barely do justice to England’s predicament. They had never failed to beat Fiji by less than double figures before this but as the clock ticked down in the final few minutes the Pacific Islanders could bask in the glory of their history-making feats. The blue Fijian flags fluttered in a sun-soaked corner of Twickenham, their supporters dancing with delight.
Here, they missed 27 tackles and defensively they were desperate. Steve Borthwick keeps insisting his players are getting tighter and tighter together but maybe it is time for sharing a few home truths. In those moments, England shrunk into their shells after a bright start. Fiji, on the other hand had the courage of their convictions. There was a shrewdness to them, box-kicking to Freddie Steward, whose normally rock-solid handling was anything but, though they kept playing, kept tipping the ball on, kept carrying the fight to England. They knocked on, and they didn’t care and they came again.
Semi Radradra took a little while to get going at inside-centre but once he found his stride and left considerable marks on England’s defence. George Ford and Max Malins in particular felt the full force of the former Bristol centre. There were streaks of lightning above the Twickenham pitch and Radradra brought the thunder down below.
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