Brad Barritt has said that England were always prepared for a tough opening night at the World Cup after beating Fiji 35-11 at Twickenham.
Fiji were short of their best in the opening 40 minutes, but fought back well in the second half to make life difficult for the hosts, who were helped by a brace from Mike Brown as they kicked off the tournament with a win over their Pool A rivals.
"We're very pleased with the result. This Fiji side are an exceptional team and they've shown over the past year that they are a quality outfit. They not only possess that players that can do something fantastic, but their game management was actually really good, too," Barritt told Sports Mole. "We obviously made a great start with two early tries, but credit to Fiji for coming back and making us work for the 80 minutes."
"Obviously the two early tries helped, but the boys wanted to go out there and express themselves regardless of the conditions. We can always look to improve and that is what we will do again in the coming week."
Barritt was also quick to pay tribute to the replacements used by Stuart Lancaster as England relied on the strength on their bench to pull clear of a resilient Fiji side late on.
"We always knew it was going to be a 23-man effort. As I said, Fiji are a quality team and they stuck at it for a long time. They had their opportunities, but we weathered the storm well and the subs came on to give us that energy," the centre added.
England's campaign continues against Wales next Saturday.
Callum Mulvihill
