When England touched down in France in late August they would definitely have settled for where they sit now. World Cup semi-finalists, five wins on the spin and, in theory, the chance of reaching a second successive final. It is not their concern that, as demonstrated again by New Zealand and Ireland on Saturday night, the gulf in quality between the two halves of the draw has been so pronounced.
This, either way, was a nerve-jangling quarter-final, Fiji pulling back to 24-24 with 11 minutes left only for a drop-goal and a penalty, his fifth of the evening, from their captain, Owen Farrell, to restore some order. First-half tries from Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant had initially given them control of a hard‑edged contest but the sense of red rose relief at the final whistle was entirely genuine.
