England secured second place in Group A with a resounding win over Fiji thanks to a brace of tries from Ryan Hall and a man of the match display from Sam Burgess.
The first 25 minutes of the game were largely uneventful; with Sam Burgess and Daryl Millard both having tries disallowed before Eloni Vunakece and Ben Westwood touched down to send the sides in level at half time.
Tries were much easier to come by in the second half, as England ran in five in a devastating 20 spell with Sam Burgess, Brett Ferres, Rob Burrow all crossing plus two from Ryan Hall, before Fiji added a consolation through Semi Radradra.
The game had a fairly low-key opening, with Fiji proving to be much sterner opposition than Ireland a week ago. Both sides went through their sets with neither threatening a score.
When England were awarded a penalty after Tariq Sims was found guilty of a spear tackle on James Graham and home side nearly made the breakthrough when Sam Burgess powered to the line. His try was ruled out by the video referee who had seen the prop spill the ball in the act of touching down.
Fiji made the most of the error and, spurred on by their vocal support, made a push for the line which looked to have brought them the opening try of the game.
Sam Tomkins failed to collect a grubber kick and Daryl Millard pounced on the ball, only to see his try chalked off following an off-the-ball tackle by Tariq Sims on the England full-back.
As the game looked to be heading towards a scoreless first half, Tariq Sims escaped Rob Burrows tackle, before finding Vunakece who went over. Wes Naiqama added the extras to make it 6-0.
Stung into action England were soon on level terms, Kevin Sinfield making a break before offloading to Westwood, who went over, with the England captain levelling the scores with the conversion.
The hosts were quickly out of the blocks in the second half, as Burgess atoned for his earlier mistake after just 24 seconds when he powered through four Fijians to touch down.
Ferres extended Englands lead shortly afterwards, after some smart play by Rangi Chase and Chris Hill, before the second rower crossed.
England collected their fourth try of the game in somewhat contentious circumstances, when Ryan Hall was ruled to have narrowly avoided being put into touch by Kevin Naiqama following lengthy deliberation from the video referee.
Burrow added another score just a minute later when he finished off a neat move involving Hill and George Burgess, before Sinfield made it five out of five with the conversion.
There was no debate over Ryan Hall's second try when Tomkins broke through to find the Leeds winger out wide. He exploited the tiring Fiji defence, to further extend England's lead.
Fiji added a consolation try when Radradra went over in the corner after Leroy Cudjoe failed to put the winger into touch and Wes Naiqama wrapped up the scoring with his second conversion of the game.
England
1 Sam Tomkins
2 Tom Briscoe
3 Kallum Watkins
4 Leroy Cudjoe
5 Ryan Hall
6 Rangi Chase
7 Kevin Sinfield
8 Sam Burgess
9 Michael McIlorum
10 James Graham
11 Brett Ferres
12 Ben Westwood
13 Sean OLoughlin
Interchange
14 Rob Burrow
15 Liam Farrell
16 Chris Hill
17 George Burgess
Fiji
1 Kevin Naiqama
2 Marika Koroibete
3 Daryl Millard
4 Wes Naiqama
5 Semi Radradra
6 Ryan Millard
7 Aaron Groom
8 Ashton Sims
9 James Storer
10 Petero Civoniceva
11 Tariq Sims
12 Jayson Bukuya
13 Korbin Sims
Interchange
14 Eloni Vunakece
15 Peni Botiki
16 Vitale Roqica
17 Kane Evans
Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia)
England 34 (Tries: Westwood, S Burgess, Ferres, Hall 2, Burrow; Goals: Sinfield 5), Fiji 12 (Tries: Vunakece, Radradra; Goals: W Naiqama 2).
Attendance: 25,114
The first 25 minutes of the game were largely uneventful; with Sam Burgess and Daryl Millard both having tries disallowed before Eloni Vunakece and Ben Westwood touched down to send the sides in level at half time.
Tries were much easier to come by in the second half, as England ran in five in a devastating 20 spell with Sam Burgess, Brett Ferres, Rob Burrow all crossing plus two from Ryan Hall, before Fiji added a consolation through Semi Radradra.
The game had a fairly low-key opening, with Fiji proving to be much sterner opposition than Ireland a week ago. Both sides went through their sets with neither threatening a score.
When England were awarded a penalty after Tariq Sims was found guilty of a spear tackle on James Graham and home side nearly made the breakthrough when Sam Burgess powered to the line. His try was ruled out by the video referee who had seen the prop spill the ball in the act of touching down.
Fiji made the most of the error and, spurred on by their vocal support, made a push for the line which looked to have brought them the opening try of the game.
Sam Tomkins failed to collect a grubber kick and Daryl Millard pounced on the ball, only to see his try chalked off following an off-the-ball tackle by Tariq Sims on the England full-back.
As the game looked to be heading towards a scoreless first half, Tariq Sims escaped Rob Burrows tackle, before finding Vunakece who went over. Wes Naiqama added the extras to make it 6-0.
Stung into action England were soon on level terms, Kevin Sinfield making a break before offloading to Westwood, who went over, with the England captain levelling the scores with the conversion.
The hosts were quickly out of the blocks in the second half, as Burgess atoned for his earlier mistake after just 24 seconds when he powered through four Fijians to touch down.
Ferres extended Englands lead shortly afterwards, after some smart play by Rangi Chase and Chris Hill, before the second rower crossed.
England collected their fourth try of the game in somewhat contentious circumstances, when Ryan Hall was ruled to have narrowly avoided being put into touch by Kevin Naiqama following lengthy deliberation from the video referee.
Burrow added another score just a minute later when he finished off a neat move involving Hill and George Burgess, before Sinfield made it five out of five with the conversion.
There was no debate over Ryan Hall's second try when Tomkins broke through to find the Leeds winger out wide. He exploited the tiring Fiji defence, to further extend England's lead.
Fiji added a consolation try when Radradra went over in the corner after Leroy Cudjoe failed to put the winger into touch and Wes Naiqama wrapped up the scoring with his second conversion of the game.
England
1 Sam Tomkins
2 Tom Briscoe
3 Kallum Watkins
4 Leroy Cudjoe
5 Ryan Hall
6 Rangi Chase
7 Kevin Sinfield
8 Sam Burgess
9 Michael McIlorum
10 James Graham
11 Brett Ferres
12 Ben Westwood
13 Sean OLoughlin
Interchange
14 Rob Burrow
15 Liam Farrell
16 Chris Hill
17 George Burgess
Fiji
1 Kevin Naiqama
2 Marika Koroibete
3 Daryl Millard
4 Wes Naiqama
5 Semi Radradra
6 Ryan Millard
7 Aaron Groom
8 Ashton Sims
9 James Storer
10 Petero Civoniceva
11 Tariq Sims
12 Jayson Bukuya
13 Korbin Sims
Interchange
14 Eloni Vunakece
15 Peni Botiki
16 Vitale Roqica
17 Kane Evans
Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia)
England 34 (Tries: Westwood, S Burgess, Ferres, Hall 2, Burrow; Goals: Sinfield 5), Fiji 12 (Tries: Vunakece, Radradra; Goals: W Naiqama 2).
Attendance: 25,114
