England enjoy their nerve-racking World Cup win that ended Fiji's romantic run in the competition. -AP
England have ended Fiji's crowd-pleasing run at the Rugby World Cup with a tense 30-24 win to reach the semi-finals for the sixth time.
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Captain Owen Farrell kicked 20 points in Sunday's (Monday AEDT) victory in what proved a gripping affair as the Pacific islanders fought to the end, threatening another huge upset after turning over Australia during the group stages.
It was a welcome result for the northern hemisphere after quarter-final losses for Ireland and Wales on Saturday, with the English countering a second-half fightback by the Flying Fijians as Farrell kicked a drop goal and penalty in the final eight minutes in Marseille.
Trailing 21-10 at halftime, Fiji turned on their attacking flair and crossed for tries through prop Peni Ravai and flyhalf Vilimoni Botitu to tie the scores at 24-24 after 68 minutes.
But, ultimately, they couldn't complete the comeback in their bid to become the first tier-two team to get to the semi-finals since the game went professional after the 1995 World Cup.
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