Rugby World Cup 2015: In pictures: England win opening match against Fiji

Twenty legends of rugby representing the twenty nations at this World Cup – including Australia’s Michael Lynagh – lined up on either side of the giant rugby ball that was the central focus on the field.

England have stated their game plan extends far beyond targeting Fiji’s scrum.

But the program had bad news for South Africa, giving the Springboks a mere 18 per cent shot of making the final after a likely loss to Austrialia in the quarter finals.

Head of Sports Sponsorship at O2, Gareth Griffiths, said: “This year we are calling upon the entire country to Wear the Rose and get behind the England Rugby Team”. They were illegally stopped from scoring and the referee awarded a penalty try which Ford converted.

England stole the lineout however, and spread it right, with Mike Brown on the receiving end of the last pass in the other corner, with the Quins full-back crashing over for his first try of the night. The try was given but just as Ben Volavola was about to kick the conversion, a reply on the big screen showed a replay of Matawalu dropping the ball over the line.

“They’re not particularly adventurous in the way they approach the game even though they’ve got some great talent to do it”, he said.

Games featuring England, Scotland and Wales, as well as Ireland, are set to see the biggest increases in demand throughout the tournament – with the England v Wales game on September 26 and Australia v England on October 3 expected to see 500 MW surges.

Fiji were bossing the breakdown and counter-rucking superbly so it was a huge relief to everyone inside headquarters when England won a penalty on 67 minutes and Farrell converted on 67 minutes to make it 21-11.

But he was terrorising England soon after…

…

The 2003 winners needed a late Billy Vunipola try to seal a bonus-point win over the Pacific island nation after Mike Brown crossed over twice for Stuart Lancaster’s men.

Kate cringed and cheered as England took on Fiji, while William looked more composed as he studied the match through black-framed glasses. We knew it would come down to the last five or 10 minutes because Fiji were hard to break down.

The hosts will be happy to walk away with a potentially crucial bonus point after game which was closer than the scoreline suggests.