England 30 Fiji 24: Borthwick’s men sneak into Rugby World Cup semi-final with nervy victory after Farrell drop goal
OWEN FARRELL kept his nerve to kick England into the last four – but only after they had nearly thrown their World Cup dreams away.
Skipper Farrell had been roundly jeered when his name was read out to the Stade Velodrome crowd before kick-off.
AFPManu Tuilagi scored a first-half try for England[/caption]
GettyJoe Marchant also went over for England in the opening 40 minutes[/caption]
AFPFiji came storming back after half-time to level the scores[/caption]
GettyOwen Farrell scored a crucial drop goal for England late on[/caption]
But after a stunned England had seen a 14-point advantage ripped apart in the blink of an eye, Farrell stepped up to the plate.
The drop goal that put the Red Rose side back in front was straight out of the Jonny Wilkinson play-book before another penalty, taking him to 20 points, edged them home despite a late Fiji siege.
Yet quite how Steve Borthwick’s side managed to make such hard work of it was hard to believe.
It had seemed so comfortable at the hour mark after first half tries by Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant, augmented by Farrell’s boot.
Farrell, filling in at scrum-half, flipped the pass out for Tuilagi to twist and turn his way over the line, before the outstanding Ben Earl found Marchant to power over.
Fiji were also reduced to 14 when Marcus Smith was brutally pole-axed by Vinaya Habosi and it appeared England would waltz to Paris.
Yet the Pacific Islanders hit back through No 8 Viliame Mata and while Farrell’s kicking had England 24-10 up with 20 to go, it all changed.
First England’s defence disappeared for replacement Peni Ravai to scramble through and then Isoa Nasilasila opened the way for Bototu to charge over.
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PAEngland will now meet France or South Africa in Saturday’s semi-final[/caption]
Suddenly it was memories of that humiliation at Twickenham seven weeks ago, England a mess and rocking.
Yet, once again, they found a way to win.
Enter Farrell. Two kicks. Six points. And a place in the semi-finals.
