IRB Video: England U20 v Fiji U20 highlights
The early evening Newport sun may well have suited the Pacific Islanders, but it was England who excelled in the conditions with the back three of Miles Benjamin, Seb Stegmann and Noah Cato revelling in the space afforded them by Goode’s excellent passing off either hand.
Leading 41-0 at the interval in this IRB Junior World Championship encounter after tries from Benjamin (2), Cato, Goode, Stegmann and centre Jordan Turner-Hall, it was only handling errors that had prevented England from scoring more with the Fijians often reduced to chasing shadows.
However, the second half was a different matter as the U20 Six Nations Grand Slam winners seemed to have switched off slightly and the Fijians enjoyed some rewarding forays into English territory, displaying some typically extravagant handling in the process.
Further try scoring opportunities were created but spurned by England with Mark Odejobi, Benjamin and Alex Tait all coming close as Nigel Redman’s team struggled to recapture the heights of the first half and Fiji duly raised the Rodney Parade roof with three well worked tries in the final quarter as their confidence visibly grew.
England strove in vain for a further score to respond to the tries from Peni Rokodiva, Waqabaca Kotobalavu and wing William Saukuru and their growing frustration was perhaps typified by the sin-binning of replacement hooker Joe Gray.
A comfortable enough win for England, but a real game of two halves and the second half display will give Redman much food for thought before his side face Canada at the same venue on Tuesday.
England Assistant Coach Mark Mapletoft said: “To score six first half tries in the first game against a good southern hemisphere team is a real positive. We started the second half well without having the clinical edge we had in the first and that led to a lack of concentration and they came back strongly.”Â
Whilst Fiji Head Coach Rayne Simpson commented: “It was a tale of two halves. The boys were a bit nervous at the beginning but to put 17 points on a Tier One nation like England in the second half and not to let them score either was a great effort.”
