England must stop Fiji’s ‘Demolition Man’ in crunch Rugby World Cup quarter-final

Fiji take on England in Marseille looking to advance to their first Rugby World Cup semi-final.

The Pacific Islanders last reached this stage in 2007, but will be confident they can challenge a side they beat in a warm-up fixture seven weeks ago.

The momentum England had built early in this tournament was somewhat stalled by a sloppy win against Samoa, but Steve Borthwick hopes a couple of bold selection calls will jolt his team back into life.

Here are three key areas that could decide the quarter-final.

England’s breakdown ball at this World Cup has been slow, with only Wales recording a worse average ruck speed during the pool stages. While the metric is not the be-all and end-all for sides in attack – struggling Romania, for example, top the standings in that regard so far – it is significantly tougher to threaten an opponent with slow ball.

Fiji are real threats at the breakdown, led by flanker Levani Botia. They call Botia the “Demolition Man”, his compact, muscle-bound frame ideally suited to barnacling over the ball. The former prison officer was immense during Saracens’ Champions Cup defeat to La Rochelle earlier this year and was similarly irrepressible during Fiji’s win over Australia – he has contested 29 defensive rucks at the World Cup so far, the fourth highest individual tally.

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“The best thing about him is his technique,” Billy Vunipola, part of the Saracens side that day, explained of Botia’s abilities. “He’s got a very low centre of gravity and obviously his speed. I don’t think he plays 12 anymore but as a 12 who has been repositioned to seven, he’s very fast around making the decision whether to go for the ball or not.

“If we are off a little bit in terms of our breakdown then they are one of the biggest threats around the breakdown and not just this weekend but in world rugby.

But Botia is far from alone in offering jackal threat in this Fiji side. The influence of sevens, which much of the back row and backline (plus prop Peni Ravai) have played at international level, is key in honing their scavenging skills. If England do not get their ruck detail right, Fiji’s ability to win and maximise turnover ball could be decisive.

England’s set piece was a key work-on at this tournament, identified as an area where they had the personnel to become a world-leading unit even if other aspects of their game lagged behind. The hard work has paid off, with their lineout developing into one of the World Cup’s best under the instruction of Borthwick and George Kruis – the recently-retired lock has been a consulting in a coaching role to aid his former international teammates.

Given Fiji’s lineout wobbles against Australia, it’s an area that England are bound to target – particularly with Sam Matavesi only on the bench after the sad passing of his father. Don’t be surprised to see England kick for touch with regularity to both deny Fiji’s strike-runners counter-attacking opportunities and put pressure on, statistically, the fifth least successful lineout in the tournament.

“Portugal targeted their lineout,” Jamie George said this week. “We’ve got some complete lineout pigs in our team. [We’ve had] George Kruis coming in, who is a complete nause, and obviously Steve doing a lot. Their conversations together are not necessarily fascinating, but they are going to be coming up with a very good plan. We trust in that plan and we are going to try and put Fiji under a huge amount of pressure.”

The scrum should be an excellent battle, with both sides in the top five for scrum success percentage at this World Cup so far. Fiji’s work in that area has been vastly improved over the last couple of months, with the emergence of Luke Tagi as an international-class tighthead complementing Saracens’ Eroni Mawi, who has come on leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Ian Peel, Juan Figallo and Mako Vunipola in North London.

“If you look at how they’ve developed their game around the set piece, they’ve managed to reduce the amount of penalties they give away,” explained England scrum coach Tom Harrison on Wednesday. “They are big human beings who will rely on that and try to overpower you there. We’ve got some strategies to deal with that.”

Another key in Fiji’s evolution since Raiwalui replaced Vern Cotter is an improved kicking game – but the lack of a specialist fly half for this game is a major concern. The Pacific Islanders, ideally, would have had Caleb Muntz available after his starring role in the Twickenham win, but his injury on the eve of the tournament forced a rethink. Teti Tela had performed solidly in Muntz’s absence; his absence this week is a significant blow.

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Having trialled Vilimoni Botitu as their primary playmaker last November, the Castres man started at ten against Portugal. The former sevens star is an outstanding talent, regarded as a consistent defender with a balanced all-round attacking game, but looked a little bit lost away from his normal home at inside centre.

England are sure to put pressure on him. Having Ilaisa Droasese, quietly one of Fiji’s better performers, back at full-back should be a help – Fiji, like England, have exited their 22 efficiently since arriving in France, and may vary their ball-handler to try and proffer different pictures. And don’t be surprised if they keep their game tighter than one might usually anticipate - only Samoa have played wider than first receiver less frequently than Fiji at this tournament.