Owen Farrell’s 84th minute conversion made it 35-11 to England, but it was the all important fourth try that made it a successful opening night for the hosts in Pool A against Fiji. The bonus point try looked beyond them for much of the game against the passionate and proud Pacific Nations champions.
Fiji missed 11 points in kicks, had a player sent to the sin bin and managed 10 turn-overs in a game in which their front row managed to cause the home side trouble all night. But for all their tenacity the Fijians were ever able to get ahead in the game and gave way too many penalties.
Full back Mike Brown was England’s other hero as he bagged a try in each half and figured prominently in the build-up to the Vunipola score. The other England try was a penalty try from a driving line-out.
George Ford kicked 10 points and Farrell added five near the end to complete the home scoring, while Fiji created a try for giant wing Nemani Nadolo from a pin-point cross kick shortly after scrum half Nikola Matawala had been denied a try after a thrilling break from a scrum on half-way.
So, England take the early lead in Pool A, with Wales set to launch their campaign against Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.
