England held off a spirited late fightback to seal their place in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals on Sunday. Steve Borthwick’s side delivered an impressive display full of physicality and defensive ferocity to take control of the last-eight clash in Marseille, carving out handy leads thanks to tries from Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant plus the boot of captain Owen Farrell, restored to fly-half at the expense of George Ford with Marcus Smith deployed from the outset at full-back.
However, Fiji refused to surrender meekly and were given hope by No 8 Viliame Mata before two quick-fire tries in four minutes from Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu stunned England and levelled up the game heading into the last 10 minutes. But Farrell’s enduring class and experience shone through, the skipper slotting a key drop goal and later adding a fifth penalty to guide his team safely into the semis by a six-point margin.
England will discover their next opponents later on, when hosts France take on defending champions South Africa in a mammoth fourth quarter-final showdown in Paris. Follow England vs Fiji reaction live below, with expert analysis from Standard Sport’s Nick Purewal at the Stade Velodrome.
