England 22-30 Fiji: Rugby World Cup warm-up international – live | Rugby union

Lest we forget, this is a warm-up match and the real business is in a fortnight for both teams when England faces Argentina and Fiji takes on Wales. But, make no mistake, that was going over that a very experienced England team was given in the second half.

The losing captain, Courtney Lawes, is chatting to Prime Sport.

“Familiar feeling [in the huddle], just not good enough. We are where we are, all we can do is push on. Not much more to say. We just need to get our attack together, We’re turning over too many penalties and today we didn’t tackle well enough. We need to improve and have two weeks to do so. It’s hard to say what’s going on with our defense, we’ll have a look at it. We’re frustrated [like the fans] and we’ll do everything we can to fix it.”

Tough interview for Lawes, but he was very honest and you can see from the list he reeled off there is a huge amount to fix. Most worrying is that he appears to be struggling to articulate what the causes are, which is exactly what comes across when England plays. They are like a flashmob performance called “Malaise”.

“The coaching team has had the 6 nations and weeks of preparation with the Squad and are presenting the worst England team in decades.” ventures John Savile on England. “Other than maul or scrum they present no attacking threat. Abysmal performance and think of the poor supporters who pay for this dross”

I made a bit of a slip in my excitement by typing that “England beat England” at full-time. Some might say this was true given how England should play vs. what fetid fayre they are spraying all over the pitch presently, but that is not the case.

This victory was due to an utterly dominant second half from Fiji, and while there were some of the old tropes on TV commentary about Fijian ability and style, that is not an accurate summary. This was an all-park performance, with a rock solid scrum, decent set-piece and a wonderfully composed display from Caleb Muntz alloyed with the best of Fiji’s unique ability. This is a very good rugby team indeed.

The small gathering of Fiji fans erupts in the background as the whistle peeps. The players hug each other and kneel and pray in thanks for this seismic win in their rugby history.

Head Coach, Simon Raiwailui, in the stands looks quietly satisfied, as if this is no surprise to him at all. Perhaps because it isn’t.

FIJI BEAT ENGLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!

78 mins. Fiji wins the ball from a lineout on the home 10m line and starts to work phases that sap energy, time, and hope from England.

75 mins. England has a go at saving the game by driving into the 22, but the Earl carry has him running away from his support and that slight isolation allows Matavesi to clamp on and win a crucial, probably game-winning penalty.

73 mins. Ravataumada has the ball twice in the attack; firstly he drives about 10 meters while being tackled to put Fiji in the 22 and second, he dances around May, steps inside, and manages to pop it to Kuruvoli out of a tackle for the scrum-half to score from a few meters. He’s been has been an utter menace all game.

Muntz continues his excellent day from the tee with the conversion.

70 mins. Danny Care has replaced Mitchell and the veteran’s first action is to spill the kickoff to gift possession to Fiji on the 22.

68 mins. Said maul is formed and inches forward but Fiji does enough to stall it and force Mitchell to play the ball. He flings it right and Marchant, on for Malins, forces over in the corner through a tackle.

Ford converts from way out wide. Huge kick.

66 mins. England is huffing and puffing around the Fiji 10-metre line, with the visitors mostly containing them before they overcommit at the ruck to give away a penalty. Ford puts it in the corner to invite a trademark lineout maul.

63 mins. An overcooked Fiji lineout in the own 22 has England back on the ball. They work it left before Ford creams a cross-kick towards Ben Earl loitering on the right touchline, but he’s well covered and can’t hold the ball.

60 mins. Alex Mitchell gives it the full Superfly Jimmy Snuka moves as he jumps and wraps his left arm around Droasese’s neck. It’s a penalty and nothing more as there was a low degree of danger from his flapping, noodle arm.

Muntz calls for the tee and hammers it over from 45 meters.

57 mins. England gets into the Fiji half and it’s a simple chip over the top from Ford that Marcus Smith, on at fullback, chases and reaches first ahead of Droasese to score under the sticks. There was a whiff of offside, but the TMO is happy.

Ford converts and England has a possible momentum shifter.

55 mins. Fiji is more on top than a lad who doesn’t do leg day as they pile into the 22 once more and Jack Willis is in trouble for infringing at the breakdown. Muntz takes the opportunity to extend the lead.

53 mins. Ben Earl was very slow to cover the ruck there, which gave Habosi all the space in the world to run through.

52 mins. Fiji attacks the left of the England half after the ball is nicked from an England scrum, and Habosi simply picks up the ball from an unguarded ruck and pegs it forward and over the line from 20 meters.

Muntz converts.

What final quarter we are heading for here?

There’s a break in play after Albert Tuisue’s head is rattled in clashes with Joe Marler. Ref Peyper is happy there was nothing in it, but he appears to be applying his special rulebook as per.

50 mins. England’s turn to have some ball in the 22 and there are some solid and patient carries before Ford tries a grubber that pinballs behind him off some Fijian legs. They scramble to retain possession, but at the next breakdown, Malins kills the ball to concede a penalty.

Joe Marler is on for Ellis Genge.

47 mins. Eroni Mawi is out of the bin and Lomani is off at scrum-half, replaced by Simione Kuruvoli.

46 mins. Lawes is pinged for neck-rolling in the ruck and from the lineout, the Fijians again find Ravutaumada, this time off his wing in midfield, who makes some meters once more. They look to start the phases, but the ball goes forward, to England’s relief.

43 mins. Radrada finds Ravutaumada with a looping pass and the Fiji winger stands up May and diddles him on the outside with some lovely feet. He sprints forward and pops inside to Nayacalevu who is over again and this time there is zero doubt about the final pass.

Muntz converts to put Fiji in front for the first time with a man still in the sin-bin!

42 mins. A bit of a sliced clearance from England has Fiji in possession in the opposing half as the rain miraculously stops. The ball is spilled but Steward boots a ball out on the full from outside the 22.

Ford gets us back underway.

“How is the Fiji final pass for disallowed try forward and the England final pass for their try not?” asks Oliver Jawara, “Both looked forward clearly to me, and both by about the same margin.”

I’d have to revisit the England pass to have an opinion on that, Oliver. Does anyone else have the same view out there?

Half-time musings.

A balanced forty minutes, with both sides having some positive periods. England is strong in the first twenty, with Ford getting Tuilagi and Lawrence moving, and a try scored by a back for the first time in six hours of rugby meaning a huge monkey is launched off the back of the squad.

But, when Fiji finally had some ball, they knocked the home side back regularly, and but for a slight overrun by Nayacelevu the visitors would be in front at halftime.

It is consistently hammering down with rain, so the next forty will play for the side with the better kick-chase and maul, which is England. It feels like the second half in the conditions will be something to endure for everyone involved, including us watching.

40 mins. Win it they do, and Lomani chips it out to end the half.

39 mins. It’s another drive for the line from the home pack, but Fiji gets amongst it legally this time and holds the ball up. They’ll have a tricky five-metre scrum to win to clear the danger.

38 mins. England goes full wide off the top of the lineout and… only joking, they catch and drive it and rumble up close to the line before Eroni Mawi torpedoes it illegally. On the advantage, Malins races for the corner but he’s tackled into touch, just short.

Mawi is given his marching orders for 10 minutes for a professional foul.

36 mins. England gets a maul going from a lineout just inside the Fiji half and it’s take your pick of infringements from the visitors as they struggle to contain the ominous, gathering drive. Ford finds touch deep in the 22.

32 mins. That try was disallowed, but it came after a period of Fiji working the ball and taking England defenders out with their huge carries which created the space to exploit. And they are at it again as they dominantly maneuver into the England 22, but the slippy ball once again foils them by not sticking in Nayacelevu’s grip.

30 mins. Chessum is left for dead in midfield by Ravutaumada who is suddenly free and bearing down on Steward. The winger pops the ball right to Nayacalevu on the gallop who is over to ground it.

But wait! The final pass was well-forward, and the TMO points that out. NO TRY!

26 mins. More possession for Fiji as they finally have a sequence of phased possession to work with, and their carrying has England’s defense drifting offside. The resulting Fiji lineout is scruffy on the England 22, and the ball pings around in the moisture, eventually falling to Steward who hoofs clear.

24 mins. Fiji has possession in the England half for what feels like the first time, and Radrada is on a trademark run, pumping his legs to drive through the tackle. He looks to have set up a great platform but loses the ball as he goes to ground and Mitchell snaffles it to boot up to halfway.

22 mins. The ball is like a greased otter in the players’ hands, or mostly not in the players’ hands as it pings and slips all over the place. The latest England knock-on has Eroni Mawi putting Genge under all sorts of pressure in the scrum, forcing the England man to the ground. Penalty Fiji.

19 mins. Both sides commence a kicking series, with Frank Lomani putting a decent 45-metre diagonal one in, but Steward covers it, returns with interest and Lomani is forced into touch by the England defence while attempting to run it back.

17 mins. The Fiji 10 steps up and strikes a beauty from 40 meters through the stair-rod rain to put his side on the scoreboard.

13 mins. The Fiji pack moves rapidly backward on their scrum in the 22, but Mata manages to salvage the ball in the melee to allow his side to clear. Steward boots it back and for a moment it looks like May may get to the ball as it dribbles loose in-goal but Ravutaumada is first to ground it.

The rain is honking down at Twickenham now.

8 mins. The opening minutes are all England, with each carry from Tuilagi and Lawrence causing strife in the Fiji tackle line. Off a dominant scrum platform, Ford fires a miss-pass to May on the left touchline who steps through Ravutaumada’s tackle to score. Reasonable step from May to create a bit of uncertainty but Ravutaumada flapped at that horribly – a business decision tackle with one eye on not getting injured, perhaps?

Ford pushes the conversion wide.

5 mins. Fiji is offside in midfield after another Tuilagi carry. It’s on the 22 so Ford wastes no time in signaling the posts and then slotting the ball through.

4 mins. There’s a murmur of excitement in the crowd as England has a lineout on the Fiji 22, but the throw from young Theo Dan is nothing like straight. Opportunity over and Muntz can clear it away to touch.

2 mins. England’s attack has more snap in the first few phases than we’ve seen for months, with Manu Tuilagi very close to busting the line after a well-run pattern off a lineout the highlight. A couple of phases later, however, the home side was too keen on the breakdown and conceded a penalty.

Ref Jaco Peyper toots on his recorder of rebuke and George Ford gets the game started with a deep kick into the Fiji 22.

Distinctly empty stands abound as the teams head from the tunnel, with Courtney Lawes out first, accompanied by his four kids, on the occasion of his 100th cap.

Pre-match reading

Ugo Monye thinks he’s found the answer to the England malaise. Have a gander here.

Give us a shout with all your opinions and reflections either on the email or via that X thing.

Borthwick makes changes from the side hammered in Dublin, with the Farrell and Vunipola suspensions combined with some tactical swaps. Alex Mitchell is in at scrum-half with a boom-boom partnership of Ollie Lawrence and Manu Tuilagi preferred in the centre alongside a rare start for wing, Jonny May.

In the forwards, Dan Cole returns in the front row alongside Theo Dan and Ellis Genge, with starts for Ollie Chessum and Jack Willis elsewhere in the pack. Ben Earl takes the No8 berth vacated by the suspended Vunipola.

Fiji made seven changes to the side that lost in France, including a debut pairing of captain Waisea Nayacalevu with Semi Radradra in the centers.

TEAMS

England: Freddie Steward; Max Malins, Ollie Lawrence, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Theo Dan, Dan Cole; Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum; Courtney Lawes (capt), Jack Willis, Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Joe Marchant.

Fiji: Ilaisa Droasese; Selesitino Ravutaumada, Waisea Nayacalevu (capt), Semi Radradra, Vinaya Habosi; Caleb Muntz, Frank Lomani; Eroni Mawi, Sam Matavesi, Luke Tagi; Isoa Nasilasila, Te Ahiwaru Cirikidveta; Albert Tuisue, Lekima Tagitagivalu, Viliame Mata.

Replacements: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Jone Koroiduadua, 18 Samu Tawake, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Vilive Miramira, 21 Simione Kuruvoli, 22 Teti Tela, 23 Kalaveti Ravouvou

Welcome to Twickenham for the final installment of England’s Rugby World Cup warm-ups as they take on Fiji.

Thus far the run of matches for the home team has featured Steve Borthwick as the impresario of a terrible Keystone Kops tribute act – but with less falling over, more confusion, and worse uniforms resulting in an unprecedented level of audience and media hostility. Today is the swansong performance before the show moves on to the big venues and the final chance for Borthwick’s Band to present something resembling a coherent eighty minutes.

Another week of disciplinary hearings, with both the distraction and subsequent loss of captain Owen Farrell and sole No. 8, Billy Vunipola, has not exactly assisted with the ambition of a more coherent showing.

Something else that will not benefit England’s plans is today’s opponents. Fiji lost to France last week but looked powerful and creative throughout and are heading to this year’s World Cup with their best-ever pool of players, and the draw presenting their greatest chance to go deep into the tournament. A victory today would be quite the marker to put down.

But, history tells us that regardless of form, England has a knack for winning games against such opposition. They are the consummate flat-track bullies, so expect the heavy roller treatment from them today.