England’s Owen Farrell kicks a penalty
The lead was 14 points, the Rugby World Cup semifinals were in sight and there was a celebratory feel to England fans’ booming rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” that swirled around Stade Velodrome with a little over 20 minutes left.
Then Fiji finally turned up.
The World Cup quarterfinals delivered another heart-stopper on Sunday as England held on in the face of a valiant fightback from the Flying Fijians to end the crowd-pleasing run of the tournament darlings by a tense 30-24.
English hopes of a second world title were written off six weeks ago after a lackluster first ever loss to Fiji at Twickenham.
Now, a victory over the same opponent has carried them into the semifinals for the sixth time in 10 editions of rugby’s biggest event.
“The players were written off,” England coach Steve Borthwick said. “A lot of people said we wouldn’t get out of the pool. We got out of the pool, now we got out of the quarterfinals.”
It was a welcome result for the northern hemisphere a day after quarterfinal losses for Ireland and Wales. MDT/AP
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