Owen Farrell steered England into the semi-finals of the World Cup after Steve Borthwick’s side faced down a Fiji fightback in a dramatic 30-24 victory in Marseille.
England appeared to be cruising into the next round when they led 24-10 heading into the final quarter thanks to tries by Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant and Farrell’s pinpoint kicking at Stade Velodrome.
But their foundations shook when Peni Ravai went over in the 65th minute and a nerve-jangling finish beckoned as Vilimoni Botitu crossed to level the score soon after.
Farrell landed a drop-goal to usher in the unbearably tense closing minutes and with Fiji throwing the kitchen sink at them, they picked off a loose pass and sped downfield through Joe Marchant.
Farrell landed his fifth penalty and despite one final assault from the Islanders, the white wall held firm to secure a semi-final against either France or South Africa.
England are the only home union side to reach the last four following the demise of Wales and Ireland in this weekend’s quarter-finals but they rode their luck at times during a frenzied second half having played smart rugby before the interval.
The result avenged their first ever loss to Fiji in August and by reaching the penultimate stage of the World Cup they have surpassed expectations given they entered the tournament on the back of five defeats in six Tests.
There was no sign of the fireworks to come as England surged ahead, capitalising on their opponents’ indiscipline to score three points through Farrell before a second penalty produced a line-out drive that ended with Tuilagi diving over in the left corner.
Roared on by fans, Marcus Smith ran from deep but was swallowed up by the Islanders and the drama continued with Maro Itoje intercepting and racing into space before Tom Curry made a dangerously low tackle on Josua Tuisova.
Curry’s offence allowed Frank Lomani to kick three points but England replied with waves of attacks and their tempo stretched Fiji’s defence, allowing Marchant to jink over.
Fiji wing Vinaya Habosi was sent to the sin-bin for a high hit on Smith, who departed for an HIA, but his side were the next over in a breathless first half when Viliame Mata scooped up a loose ball, dummied and strolled over.
Itoje and Courtney Lawes were battered as the Islanders made their presence felt in defence but England continued to force penalties that allowed Farrell to land six more points.
Fiji infringed freely as their opponents racked up time in possession, but two wayward Farrell kicks after he had fired a smart chip into space provided a route out of difficulty and they started moving the ball with menace until Lawes turned them over.
The second half was more ragged and England’s play was frantic at times, lacking the control evident earlier, but the scoreboard kept ticking over as Farrell extended their lead to14 points.
Fiji lost the ball time and again, preventing them from building any momentum, but they faced a muscular defence.
Finally they broke through, Ravai concluding a sustained assault and when the conversion was added, the deficit was down to a converted try.
The tide had turned and when a Simione Kuruvoli penalty struck the upright, it fell to Fiji and they pounded away at the favourites until Isoa Nasilasila forced a gap and Botitu touched down.
Farrell replied with his drop-goal and when Marchant broke clear to relieve the pressure of a Fiji attack, sprinting 60 metres downfield, a penalty was forced that Farrell rifled over.
The Islander fell short with one final attack and when the final whistle sounded they collapsed to the floor in disappointment.
Saka and Jones withdraw from England's Nations League squad
England have confirmed that Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Liverpool's Curtis Jones have withdrawn from the squad ahead of their Nations League clash with Finland on Sunday.
Saka was replaced by Noni Madueke in the 51st minute during England's shock 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday after picking up an injury in his right leg.
It only adds to Mikel Arteta's injury worries ahead of facing Bournemouth next Saturday after Martin Odegaard was injured on international duty for Norway last month.
Saka has enjoyed a fine start to the Premier League campaign, scoring two goals and laying on a further seven assists in the Gunners' opening seven games.
The England international has also created more chances (27) than any other player in the division, with his nine goal involvements a total only bettered by Chelsea's Cole Palmer (11) and Manchester City's Erling Haaland (10).
Lee Carsley will also be without uncapped Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, who was added to the Three Lions squad earlier this week, but has since withdrawn due to a personal commitment.
Jones earned his first call-up in May as part of Gareth Southgate's provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024, but did not make the final cut.
The 23-year-old was part of the Young Lions side that won the 2023 European Under-21 Championship under Carsley, scoring the only goal in their 1-0 win over Spain in the final.
Brook has everything to become England's 'best ever', says Anderson
Harry Brook has all the attributes needed to become England's best ever batter after his sensational knock against Pakistan, so says James Anderson.
Brook became the first England batter in 34 years to score a triple-century when his side thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in their first Test of the three-match series.
In the same Test, Root scored 262, and in doing so he passed Alastair Cook's previous England best of 12,472 career runs, placing him fifth on the all-time list.
Brook's career-best knock of 317 took him to 1,875 runs in 19 Tests and 31 innings ahead of the second encounter in Multan that starts on Monday.
The 25-year-old has a chance to become the fastest Englishman to 2,000 Test runs, beating the 22 matches and 33 innings of Herbert Sutcliffe in 1928.
And Anderson, who is England's all-time leading wicket taker in Test matches, showered praise on Brook, likening him to Kevin Pietersen.
"He's on the way to being in the top three that I've played with," Anderson said on his Tailenders podcast.
"It's Root, Pietersen and him. He's definitely got all the attributes to overtake them.
"He's just got everything. Without trying to big him up too much because he's still really early in his Test career.
"I do think that he's got the perfect amount of each of those two and that's what will make him the best that we've ever had."
Pietersen scored 8,181 runs when his 104-Test career ended in 2014, 170 fewer than Brook has managed after 19 Tests as a comparison.
England's stunning 823-7 declared was their highest total in Test cricket since 1938 as they took a 1-0 series lead against Pakistan on Friday.
The 556 England conceded in Pakistan’s first innings was the highest total any team had overturned to then go on and earn an innings victory.
Brook and Root shared a partnership of 454, England’s highest of all time for any wicket and the fourth-highest by any Test pair.
"The thing that's really similar between Joe and Harry is that they love batting," said Anderson. "They literally couldn't care less what format it is. They just want to bat.
"They want to have fun doing it. As much as Harry's the younger player and will be learning loads from Rooty, I still think Rooty learns from him as well.
"Joe's one of those sorts of players that wants to keep developing and bettering himself, and he does watch other players and try to add bits to his game.
"I'm sure he's doing that with Harry."
Stokes could return for England’s second Test against Pakistan, hints Pope
England stand-in captain Ollie Pope has hinted that Ben Stokes could return to the team for their second Test match against Pakistan in Multan, starting on Tuesday.
With Stokes still nursing a hamstring injury, England cruised to an emphatic innings victory against Pakistan at the same venue in the opener, inspired by the brilliant batting performances of Harry Brook (317) and Joe Root (262).
The win by an innings and 47 runs, which came early on the fifth day, saw the tourists become the first team in Test cricket history to concede more than 500 runs in the first innings but still end up winning the match by an innings.
Asked about team news for the second of the three Tests on the tour, Pope let slip that Stokes could be involved.
“I don’t know. I'm actually not 100 per cent sure,” he added.
“He's been training really well this week. He's as keen as ever to get playing again, so fingers crossed he's all good.”
Pope has deputised as England captain after full-time skipper Stokes suffered a hamstring injury in August which saw him miss the home Test series against Sri Lanka.
The 33-year-old was included in the England squad for the Pakistan tour and was expected to return for the first Test, but failed to recover in time as the visitors scripted cricketing history in Multan.
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