England triumphs and Wales fails in rugby internationals
England crush Fiji, but Wales succumb to Argentina, in the first of the autumn series of international rugby union matches.
England got off to a great start in the autumn series campaign, defeating Fiji by 54 points to 10. After a converted penalty from Toby Flood, England winger Charlie Sharples got the first try of the game, eluding a number of Argentinian tacklers in the 21st minute of play.
Twickenham saw two further tries in the first half, one penalty try and one scored in the corner by inside centre Ugo Monye. Including penalties, England went into half time leading by 28 points to zero.
The autumn internationals are important in that they will contribute to determining the IRB (International Rugby Board) world rankings. These rankings will decide group seedings for the next Rugby World Cup.
Going into Saturday's matches, England were ranked fourth in the world and Wales sixth. Argentina were ranked eighth and Fiji were ranked fourteenth.
Over at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the competition was looking considerably more balanced. No tries had been scored and points kicked with the boot had Wales marginally in the lead, by nine points to Argentina’s six. A slippery pitch had denied Argentina two kicks, which would have had them leading going into the break.
Second half
Fiji came out fighting in the second half at Twickenham, with scrum-half Nicola Matawalu scoring the Pacific Islanders’ first points of the game by chipping the ball ahead and racing to touch it down over the line. However, England maintained their dominance of the game, with further tries coming from Sharples and winger Manu Tuilagi.
In the dying minutes of the game Sekonaia Kalou scored a consolation try for the Fijian visitors.
The Welsh, however, had a suffered a turn for the worse. Lee Halfpenny converted his fourth penalty of the game at the start of the second half followed by a drop-goal from Sanchez to bring the score to 12-9 in Wales’ favour.
Argentina then stepped up the pace, with offloads from number eight Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and flanker Juan Manuel Leguizamon setting up inside centre Juan Imhoff down the middle of the pitch for five points, which were then converted into seven by the boot of Sanchez.
Five minutes later Argentina extended the lead again, with winger Gonzalo Camacho scoring in the corner. A final Argentinian penalty left the scores at Wales 12, Argentina 26.