VICTORY England Triumphs in Epic Showdown! Nail-Biting Victory over Fiji Secures Spot in Semi-Finals!

ENGLAND WIN! ENG 30 FIJ 24England withstand late Fiji fight-back to earn their place in the semi-finalsFARRELL DROP GOALFarrell makes like George Ford and slots a drop goal to reclaim the lead for EnglandTRY FIJI! ENG 24 FIJ 24Fiji draw level through a Botitu tryTRY FIJI! ENG 15 FIJ 10A moment of Fijian magic allows Mata to scoreTRY ENGLAND! ENG 8 RUG 0Manu Tuilagi draws first blood

Another quarter-final, another spell-binding contest going right to the wire. This time it was England left standing, despite an inspirational late rally by Fiji that echoed the stunning finale the previous evening when New Zealand held on against Ireland.

The hand of history perhaps is stretching back even further for Steve Borthwick’s side. In reaching the semi-finals, where they will face South Africa in Paris next Saturday night, England also evoked memories of the 2007 side, who managed to reach the final despite an underwhelming pool campaign and off the back of a similarly challenging Six Nations campaign.

Sixteen years ago, England were written off after the 36-0 defeat by South Africa in their opening game but recovered with hard-fought wins over Samoa and Tonga before producing a shock 12-10 quarter-final victory over Australia in Marseille, with their reward being a semi-final in Paris.

Borthwick had urged his squad to draw on the spirit of the ’07 squad he himself featured in when he named his World Cup squad back in August.

Borthwick will know his side will face a completely different level of challenge in the last four, and at times they had to ride their luck against a resilient Fijian side, who like Ireland in Paris, had threatened to contrive a match-winning try by going through a succession of phases at the death.

But despite a penalty concession from a deliberate knock on by Owen Farrell that allowed one final assault, like Ireland before them, they could not deliver the killer blow, with Courtney Lawes winning a turnover penalty to allow his captain to kick the ball high into the stands.

Farrell had only moments earlier re-established England’s winning position with a drop goal and followed with his fifth penalty after Fiji had set up an enthralling finish when Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu each scored in the space of five minutes.

Such a finish could not have been envisaged after tries by Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant had given England a 21-10 lead at half-time. Farrell maintained the scoreboard pressure with his penalties, but it was not enough to kill off Fiji’s wonderful spirit.

Simon Raiwalui’s side have already accounted for Australia and came within a dropped pass of beating Wales. Their contribution to this tournament has been immense.

But that England’s victory occurred at the same stadium as the 2007 side was not lost on their head coach.

“The team has found itself in several different situations,” said Borthwick, when asked if he felt his side had evoked a similar spirit.

“We have tried to capture the learnings from each one of them. I think the players handled each one in a smart way. Game one against Argentina, the sending off after two minutes and the way they responded.

“Japan played in a completely different manner, kicked the ball every one-and-a-half rucks, never seen a Japan team play like that. Found a way through that contest.

“Jump to game four against Samoa and we found ourselves in a difficult situation but we had a huge Q4 (fourth quarter) to win that game.

“Today, for large parts we controlled the game and then had a couple of thunderbolts that hit the team in quick succession. I think you’ve seen in a [recent] period of time the England team weren’t coming back to win that game and this team did.

“There is a smartness and composure about the team led by this man [Farrell]. I think the team is continuing to grow. We have discussed that a lot in the week. We talked about scenarios and how you handle different situations. I think the players are drawing on all of those experiences now.

“As for comparisons with 07, I think this group is incredibly tight, they are clear on what they are trying to do and work upon. We go about our work and I think in 07, we had a bit of a reset after game two and I think in 07 the team said we will go about our work. I think that is what I see with this team, they are doing exactly that.”

England’s stand-out player was Ben Earl carried the ball for 99 metres and crossed the gainline on seven occasions, including two late critical breaks to relieve the pressure. The experiment to start Marcus Smith at full-back however was less convincing.

Freddie Steward is likely to return at full-back next week, but otherwise the team delivered a performance to justify a shot at the final.

England’s supporters have been long-suffering but the prospect of heading up to Paris next week sparked a carnival atmosphere here in Marseille.

Like the class of 2007, England must use the experience of their late scare to embolden their semi-final performance.

“What we’ll do is we’ll recover from today’s game, and we’ll build towards our game next Saturday,” added Borthwick. “I don’t really care what other people think of us, I care about the development of the team.”

It was that kind of siege mentality that fired the 2007 side to the final. Nick Easter, the England No 8 at the time, famously quoted Nick Faldo after the victory over Australia.

“I’d like to thank the press from the heart of my bottom,” said Easter, at the time.

“You guys have given us the siege mentality we needed to pull off this win.”

The class of 2023 are embracing a similar mindset. Whether they can pull it off like the side of 2007 is likely to provide a compelling narrative this week.

England dig-in to secure slender win against Fiji – as it happened
6:

Heartbreak and disbelief for Fiji

England’s Ollie Lawrence (left) consoles Waisea Nayacalevu CREDIT: AP/Pavel Golovkin

Semi Radradra of Fiji embraces Waisea Nayacalevu CREDIT: Getty Images/Adam Pretty

Elation for England

A battered and bruised Marcus Smith shares a smile with a remarkably unscathed Tom Curry CREDIT: Getty Images/Adam Pretty

Owen Farrell (right) blindsides Billy Vunipola with an embrace CREDIT: Getty Images/Dan Mullan

Ben Earl with a trademark celebration CREDIT: Reuters/Stephanie Lecocq

Ben Earl:

I’m over the moon. It’s not really sunk in yet. Just so proud of the boys, so proud of everyone. Looked a bit shaky at one bit, but I think you saw the experience of our team shine through in that last ten minutes.

Hopefully we see a lot of our true self when we watch that one back. That was true testament to the work we’ve put in.

6:24PM

England player ratings

Earl produces his finest display to date while Tuilagi went missing for long stretches, writes Daniel Schofield.