The Sports World Baby Flying Fijians faced a tough 48-11 defeat against England in their second match of the U20 World Cup held at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa today.
After a discouraging 57-7 loss to hosts South Africa in their first game, the Fijians aimed to bounce back in this match.
England secured their victory with tries from James Isaacs, James Halliwell, Angus Hall (2), Henry Pollock, Toby Cousins (2), and Kane James, supported by eight points from Ben Coen. Fiji’s points came from Isikeli Basiyalo and Benjamin Naivalu.
Despite a quick sin-binning of Fiji’s Ebernezer Tuidraki, Basiyalo opened the scoring with a penalty. England responded by kicking to the corner, allowing Isaacs to score the opening try, which Coen converted.
Following Tuidraki’s return, Halliwell capitalized on an opportunity just inside the Fijian 22 to score, with Coen successfully converting for a 14-3 lead. Moments later, Halliwell set up Hall who dashed down the wing to score on his debut.
Cousins broke through a gap on halfway before linking with replacement Pollock, who managed to score, giving England a commanding lead. Pollock and Cousins combined once more, with Cousins chipping ahead from 40 meters and regathering to score England’s fifth try.
Basiyalo added another penalty for Fiji, but an interception by Hall led to a swift score in the corner, placing England firmly ahead at halftime, 36-6.
Despite England’s Harvey Cuckson being sin-binned after 52 minutes, James scored from a five-meter scrum, with Coen converting to extend the lead to 43-6. England continued their dominance, with Bellamy finding Cousins in the corner for his second try of the match.
As the game closed, Fiji’s Naivalu penetrated the English defense, making the final score 48-11 after James received a yellow card.