2023-08-26 19:31:28
English captain Courtney Lawes (ball in hand) and his teammates failed to get the upper hand over Fiji on Saturday August 26 at Twickenham (London). ALASTAIR GRANT / AP
It seems a long time ago when England were advancing towards a World Cup in the shoes of a favorite for the title. Four years ago, the XV de la Rose was one of the behemoths of the oval world and had reached the World Cup final, finally losing against South Africa (32-12). Since then, things have changed across the Channel and the results no longer follow. The show offered at Twickenham, Saturday August 26, offered a new illustration of this: in front of a dumbfounded public, the locals bowed for the first time in their history against Fiji (30-22).
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In rugby, concussions on trial
Deprived of its captain and opener Owen Farrell, suspended for a dangerous tackle, the XV of the Rose had however started the meeting well. His replacement for number 10, George Ford, quickly opened the scoring with a penalty (3rd) before winger Jonny May went away to score the first try (8th) of an afternoon. which promised to be quiet in the venerable enclosure of the London suburbs, the scene of the debacle of the All Blacks against South Africa the day before.
Unfortunately for the English, the second period was much less favorable to them. Despite two new tries scored by opener Marcus Smith (58th) and center Joe Marchant (69th), the XV de la Rose suffered mainly from the offensive surges of the Fijians. A week after hanging the Blues in Nantes (34-17), Waisea Nayacalevu’s teammates overturned the meeting thanks in particular to a try from the Toulon center (44th). Despite a revolt at the end of the match, Steve Borthwick’s men saw, helpless, scrum half Simione Kuruvoli give them the coup de grace with a try in the last minutes (73rd).
The bad streak continues
“All we can do is keep moving forward,” declared on Amazon Prime after the meeting, England captain Courtney Lawes, who was no doubt dreaming of another outcome to celebrate his 100th selection. The third line added that the XV of the Rose was not “not good enough and out of place at the moment”. For his part, Fijian winger Selestino Ravutaumada said to himself “proud of the boys”before dedicating the victory to “all the people of Fijian”.
This new defeat – the third in four preparatory test matches – further darkens the prospects of the XV de la Rose for the World Cup in France. The English will have to extricate themselves from a group made up of Argentina, Japan, Chile and Samoa. For their part, the Fijians are gaining confidence before tackling a tough pool, notably made up of Australia and Wales. In the event of favorable results, the two teams could also find themselves in the quarter-finals.
#World #Cup #approaches #England #sink #Fiji