England’s Will Carling, centre white jersey, is caught by Australia’s Michael Lynagh, centre right
Saturday, 3:00am
England v Fiji
H 1.03, D 71, A 26
The countdown clocks are nearing the final minutes to the Rugby World Cup.
More than 2.3 million tickets, 94 percent of capacity, have been sold. Trains and buses to carry the record crowds are standing by, the London Eye has been decked out with the flags of all 20 teams, and the opening ceremony celebrating rugby’s birth in England has been rehearsed.
It’s finally time to play.
An England side four years in the making and still considered better contenders for the 2019 title than this year, will launch the show in their Twickenham stronghold today (Saturday, 3am) and maybe even give the performance that sparks the tournament to life.
Or will it be Fiji that sets the tone for the tournament? The heavy underdog seems to have been served up for England to gobble up as the Cup’s first course.
With a pack that’s comparable in size to England’s and a backline that’s scarier, Fiji has been warning the tournament hosts since they landed that they are not intimidated and not making up the numbers.
“I have faith we can surprise the world,” Fiji captain Akapusi Qera said.
England has spared no expense in its preparation, including a high-altitude training camp in Colorado in July. And yet even its own professional rugby director, Rob Andrew, is more hopeful than confident that they will peak enough over the next six weeks.
Coach Stuart Lancaster deserves all plaudits for overhauling the embarrassing 2011 Cup team and giving the England responsibility and belief, supported by the increasingly respected captain Chris Robshaw.
Lancaster’s latest push has been to try and make them more positive, and follow the lead of the nation’s football and cricket teams.
Most of the squad was in high school when England won the 2003 Cup in Sydney, and their youthfulness comes across in tactical naivety, failings in game management, and blowing chances.
In the warm-ups, England was still hot and cold. It has a pack of bread-winners, but the backline remains in flux, notably the centers.
Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph will start only their second test together, two weeks after their first. Sam Burgess, the rugby league star who switched to union a year ago and was used by his club as a loose forward, was the midfield backup.
Their game plan is simple enough: Squeeze the Fijians in the forwards, stay tight, kick intelligently, and count on them cracking in the second half.
“They tire quicker than other teams – you can’t be that fast and that powerful and sustain it,” England lock Courtney Lawes said.
History says the English will win big. They have won all five previous tests against Fiji, and averaged 52 at Twickenham. Foster Niumata, AP / Oddschecker.com
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