There’s a big swell of noise every time the full back Smith, who plays just round the corner from HQ of course, gets the ball. Whatever you may think of his contribution to England over the years, you can’t deny he gets crowds excited.
The South Sea Islanders hit straight back by driving straight through the middle of the English maul, allowing the whopping unit Tevita Ikanivere goes over. Caleb Muntz pushes the conversion wide.
GLYN KIRK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Excellent stuff from the No10
Neat manipulation from Fin Smith in the build-up to that try, he just delayed his ball on the line to Cunningham-South, with a little check of the feet, so that the No8 went into the gap, not the defender. It was simple from there. Lovely from Smith.
Luke Cowan-Dickie goes over inside six minutes after England put together some nice phases. Alex Coles ends up on top of the Sale hooker as he dives over to give the home side the lead.
Not a great start here, unfortunately, as The Last Post rendition comes crackling through the Tannoy, which is then turned off as it is not working (Will Kelleher writes). Then through the silence a bing-bong keeps going, followed by an announcement in the concourses. Shambolic, I’m afraid.
To mark remembrance weekend, The Last Post rings out around Twickenham before the national anthems.
Quite a light show at Twickenham, with ol’ reliable Seven Nation Army getting the crowd going as the teams emerge from the tunnel.
What to expect from England today? Well an attack that scores more efficiently than last week would be a good start (Will Kelleher writes). Fiji are no mugs these days — remember they beat England here the last time the teams faced each other in London before the 2023 World Cup — and have a packed backline, but you suspect they could fade in the second half when Tom Curry, Maro Itoje, Henry Arundell and co come on.
But it would be progress for England to fire out the blocks from the start, rather than relying on the Pom squad bench to put a gloss on the result.
A day to play your way into the XV for the All Blacks?
Steve Borthwick is getting stuck in to the warm-ups on the field at Twickenham as he and his side look for a ninth straight victory.
WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGES
Fans arrive at Twickenham
Plenty of support is arriving at the national stadium in preparation for this afternoon’s game.
WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGES
ALEX DAVIDSON – RFU/THE RFU COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES
Full time: Scotland 17 New Zealand 25
That’s so painful — another opportunity to claim the ultimate scalp falls by the wayside for Scotland, whose wait for a win against the most famous rugby team of all goes on.
Stay tuned for our full report from a proper Test match at Murrayfield.
Having spooned his conversion attempt, McKenzie slots a huge penalty to make it 25-17 to New Zealand. Quite a dagger…
Aaaaand there it is. A quite remarkable finish in the corner from Damian McKenzie has given New Zealand the upper hand. An astonishing finish punctures Scotland’s hope, but the Kiwi pulls the conversion wide, so there’s only five points in it with five to go.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceYou take the high road…
It’s 4.45 in the Twickenham press room (Stuart Barnes writes). Scotland 17 New Zealand 17 with 15 minutes remaining. Are we in the wrong place?
A Finn Russell penalty has levelled things at Murrayfield, 17-17. New Zealand are about to go down to 14 for the third time today, as Wallace Sititi is shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on. Twenty to go.
Having been 17-0 down at half-time, Scotland have scored 14 unanswered points to give the All Blacks plenty to think about. Absolute hum dinger and there’s 25 minutes still to go.
Steyn crosses for Scotland’s second try
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‘I want to be England’s best ever wing’
Noah Caluori isn’t playing for the England first team today, but he has been in action for England A as they lost 31-14 to an All Blacks XV at the Rec.
Read Will Kelleher’s interview with the high-flying 19-year-old wing here.
GARETH IWAN JONES FOR THE TIMES
Why Kevin Sinfield is wrong
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso starts again today, but must not rely solely on footwork and speed if he is to fulfil the coach’s comparisons to Jason Robinson — he must kick, otherwise England’s territorial strategy will be undermined.
Read Stuart Barnes on the Exeter wing’s prospects here.
An update from Edinburgh…
Scotland are 17-0 down to the All Blacks at Murrayfield in the day’s second game. Gregor Townsend’s side have found decent field position but failed to make anything of it, despite New Zealand going down to 14 men after Leroy Carter tripped Darcy Graham having been nutmegged by the Scotland wing.
It’ll need to be quite the turnaround if Scotland are to achieve their first ever win against the All Blacks…
Steve Borthwick urges squad to copy Tom Curry to take England to new level
The head coach singled out the poster-boy Sale, England and Lions flanker as a perfect example of the intensity he wants his side to bring to today’s clash.
Read Alex Lowe’s full article here.
What about the opposition?
They laugh, joke and are all-round lovely blokes by all accounts, this Fiji team, but on the field, be under no impression that they’re a hard bunch. Remember that they beat England just before the World Cup two years ago, so they know well how it feels to win at Twickenham.
Read Alex Lowe’s piece from Friday on today’s opponents here.
Fiji beat England 30-22 in August 2023, shortly before the World Cup
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Today’s starting XV is the youngest of any named by Borthwick during his reign.
Hello and welcome to the Times’ live coverage of England’s autumn internationals clash with Fiji at Twickenham. After a successful first outing against Australia last weekend, Steve Borthwick’s side are chasing a ninth consecutive win.
The head coach has made plenty of changes, including dropping the captain Maro Itoje to the bench thanks to a slight leg injury, while Fin and Marcus Smith are at fly half and full back respectively. Ellis Genge co-captains the side from loose-head while the flying Bath wing makes his first England appearance since the 2023 World Cup.
Today’s game is a chance to impress before the All Blacks, who are up against Scotland this afternoon, come to town next weekend.