England held of Fiji’s comeback in a breathless quarter-final at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on Sunday to book a place in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, where they will face title holders South Africa.
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The 2019 runners-up put an end to Fiji’s crowd-pleasing run at the World Cup with a tense 30-24 win to reach the semis for the sixth time in their history.
In a welcome result for the northern hemisphere after quarter-final losses for Ireland and Wales on Saturday, the English countered a second-half fightback by the Flying Fijians as captain Owen Farrell’s boot secured the decisive points in the final eight minutes in Marseille.
Centres Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant scored tries and Farrell was unerring with the boot, including a late drop-goal, as England led 21-10 at halftime and looked in total control of the game for the first 60 minutes before holding off a stern challenge in the final quarter.
Fiji turned on their attacking flair and crossed for tries through prop Peni Ravai and flyhalf Vilimoni Botitu to tie the scores at 24-24 after 68 minutes.
The Pacific Island nation couldn’t complete the comeback in their bid to become the first tier-two team to get to the semi-finals since the game went professional after the 1995 World Cup.
England will get a chance to avenge their defeat in the 2019 World Cup final next week when they take on title holders South Africa, who dashed France’s World Cup hopes in Sunday’s other quarter-final.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, Reuters)
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