Rugby World Cup 2023: English heads should roll following ‘worst ever’ defeat to Fiji

Simione Kuruvolia of Fiji celebrates scoring the team's third try. Photo / Getty Images

By Daniel Schofield, UK Telegraph

OPINION

As England slumped to their first ever loss against Fiji, which must rank as their worst ever defeat, plenty of senior figures within the Rugby Football Union should have started preparing their resignation letters at Twickenham.

The World Cup offers an opportunity of redemption but only the man outside Twickenham station who bangs on about the impending apocalypse seriously believes that is a serious possibility.

You wish you could categorically state this was rock bottom for a team that, lest we forget, played in the last World Cup final, but given their current trajectory is nose dive you could not be sure of that.

On the evidence of both their performances and results - five defeats in six games - it would now rank as a surprise if they got out of their group.

It would be churlish to just focus on England’s faults - even though there are dozens - because Fiji were magnificent. Simon Raiwalui was appointed head coach of Fiji later than Steve Borthwick was, but here made a mockery of England’s frequent excuse that they have lacked the time to build style and structure.

This was no smash and grab because Fiji thoroughly deserved their win, even without two of their most important players in Levani Botia and Josua Tuisov.

The margin could have been even wider had they got the rub of the green on several key decisions. Both Raiwalui and captain Waisea Nayacalevu burst out laughing when asked if Joe Marler’s suspected high tackle on Albert Tuisue should have been reviewed by the television match official.

They also managed it with a barely functioning lineout as hooker Sam Matavesi took to throwing over the top of his jumpers.

“It was not a complete performance from us by any means,” Raiwalui said. Fiji dominated the breakdown contest that England were expected to benefit from having a pair of jackals in Ben Earl and Jack Willis.

Fiji celebrate their historic victory at the final whistle during the Summer International match between England and Fiji at Twickenham. Photo / Getty Images

And Fiji’s backs were a different class. Right wing Selesitino Ravutaumada ran riot, slicing through the England defence at will to set up two tries while centre Semi Radradra took the direct route in sending both George Ford and Max Malins cartwheeling like a tailender’s leg stump.

The celebrations, especially by the raucous pocket of their supporters, were wonderful to behold. As their players sank to their knees in prayer at the final whistle, England’s players did not know where to look. Not too different from the 80 minutes then.

In normal circumstances, you would label this a giantkilling, only that England long ago assumed the role of pygmies frightened of their own shadow. Fiji now leapfrog them in the world ranks as England slide to eighth. This is where they belong in the third tier of nations.

To borrow an old cricket maxim, there’s only three three things wrong with this England team: they can’t catch, they can’t tackle and they can’t kick. When Borthwick took over, it stated they were good at anything. Right now they are not even average at anything. Their defence, especially, is atrocious. You would say it would be madness for England to rip up their game plan two weeks out from a World Cup. Right now it appears madness to stick with it.

They started somewhat brightly, playing with more intent than at any point under Borthwick. With the benefit of a penalty advantage, George Ford fired a long mispass to Jonny May, who took advantage of Ravutaumada’s generous decision to show him the outside. It was the first try by an English back in more than six hours of play.

Then the rain came, washing away any ambition and accuracy and reverting to their gutless and ineffective kicking game. Fiji kicked as well in the wet but also knew when to strike with Nayacalevu’s try being ruled out for a marginal forward pass by Ravutaumada.

England were second best in the first half but could have gone into halftime with a commanding lead once Eroni Mawi was sin-binned. Kicking to the corner, England’s maul was turned over by Fiji’s 14 men, who promptly took the lead in the second half as Ravutaumada skinned Jonny May and this time got his pass to Nayacalevu to stick.

Once Vinaya Habosi burst through an unguarded ruck and the impressive Caleb Muntz added a penalty, Fiji were 20-8 up and no one could dispute they were good value for their two-score lead.

A common feature of England’s recent performances is that they only seem to start playing once they have glimpsed into the abyss.

Rescuing a victory here would have only paper over the cracks and empty seats of a crumbling edifice at Twickenham and for a while it seemed that Marcus Smith, on at full back, held the key to get them out of jail.

It was Smith who dotted down George Ford’s chip with the TMO applying a benefit of the doubt that he did not to Fiji’s disallowed first-half effort. The words ‘daylight robbery’ were probably going through the Fijian coaching staff’s minds as England brought it back to within one point as Ford put Marchant over in the corner.

England, however, could not stop shooting themselves in the foot, turning the ball over whether in Fiji’s 22 or their own as Danny Care dropped the restart under no pressure. A turnover relieved the pressure but Ford failed to find touch and if there is one team you do not want to gift possession to with a broken field to run into then it is Fiji.

Ravutaumada again did the damage and gave another scoring pass to Simione Kuruvoli to start what will be the biggest party in the Pacific Islands since they won Olympic sevens gold in 2016. In contrast, England head to the World Cup to face Argentina on September 9 with all the good cheer of a funeral.

Squirming in his plush seat was Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, who can now add a first defeat to a team outside of the the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship to his resume which already includes a record home defeat, three successive two-win Six Nations campaigns and three Premiership clubs going bust. Some 25,000 empty seats are testament to how the English rugby public are losing faith with the team. How long before the RFU executives bear responsibility for this catalogue of failure?