Fiji can upset England, says coach McKee

Would you rather be England’s captain or coach for this World Cup? The game is for playing.

“I think Tom Youngs is fine in the line-out but there is still work to be done, which I think is why Geoff Parling has been brought back in”.

“I’m not looking forward to Fiji too much”.

“They’ve got to send out a message against Fiji that they’re here and they’re going to be serious contenders because if they don’t deliver, the pressure can turn into a negative”.

There was massive expectation on us in 2003 and even though we were thousands of miles from home we felt that pressure and expectation. We know that Fiji is a small island and it means a lot to the boys.

That’s the biggest question facing the team which goes into the World Cup as second favourite behind defending champions, the All Blacks.

Particular focus has been on the selection of Rugby League convert Sam Burgess, fast-tracked into the England midfield, despite the doubts of some heavyweight pundits.

“It would be pretty euphoric back in Fiji if we did manage to get a win on Friday“.

England will be expected to beat Fiji to set them up for tougher Pool A fixtures against Wales and Australia.

They also boast a Jonah Lomu-style wrecking ball in the shape of 6 foot 5 inch, 20-stone (198cm/127kg) winger Nemani Nadolo.

Qera, Niki Goneva, Josh Matavesi and Sakiusa Masi Matadigo have experience of playing in the Aviva Premiership, while brilliant scrum-half Nikola Matawalu joins Bath after the World Cup. It’s big, but then any World Cup is big.

In terms of not knowing what will happen in the pool matches, yes.

“We’ve done our analysis as thoroughly as we will do against Wales or Australia due to their record now”, Lancaster said.

But Fiji are intent on reaching the quarter-finals themselves and are widely acknowledged to have the capacity to upset the tier one heavyweights, a feat they managed eight years ago when they sent the Welsh spinning out of the tournament. We need to be decisive in the way we play and composed, because we’re going into a game where they might be more unpredictable than other teams we play against.

What are England’s strengths and weaknesses?

“The core of our team has been together since June past year “. A lot of players have had starts at Test level but not kicked on.

“And after my time in the squad, I know the players are confident”.

The sporting theatre is great for the watching masses, and it will be very interesting to see the TV figures for the World Cup when they are eventually available.

Every single one of the players taking part in this Rugby World Cup needs to enjoy the moment.

Winning hard matches builds belief and confidence that easy matches doesn’t.

I was actually very pleased with way the ads came out and people seem to like them and tell me they are amusing .

“We’re quite relaxed. I trust the security we have got is more than adequate”.