Fiji defeat England for first time to send World Cup warning

TWICKENHAM - Fiji beat England for the first time with a 30-22 victory in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Pacific islanders fully deserved their win in a match where both teams scored three tries, with this reverse meaning England head to the World Cup in France on a run of five defeats in six matches.

Fiji were 12 points ahead early in the second half and although England closed to within a point, the visitors pulled clear with a try seven minutes from time by replacement Simione Kuruvoli.

England desperately needed a win ahead of a tough Pool D World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9.

Fiji, meanwhile will be in buoyant mood in the run-up to a World Cup they begin against Wales -- the team they knocked out of the 2007 edition in France -- in Bordeaux on September 10.