Cipriani gets Johnson's England off on right note

England 39 Pacific Islanders 13:Martin Johnson's managerial era got off to a flying start as Danny Cipriani contributed 19 points including his first international try as England ran out comfortable winners at Twickenham.

Two tries from Paul Sackey, one each from debut boy Nick Kennedy and Lee Mears were the other vital statistics as Johnson's men absorbed the big hits of the stars from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga and hit back with a display of pace and panache of their own which was promising for the future.

Rarely can four new caps have bedded in quite as comfortably as Kennedy, Riki Flutey, Ugo Monye and fullback Delon Armitage, who deservedly received the man of the match award.

And seldom has an England scrumhalf demonstrated such fleetness of foot and mind as Danny Care who had a hand in three of England's tries.

On top of that captain Steve Borthwick and Kennedy were totally dominant in the lineout while the pack were rock solid, albeit against opponents not renowned for their scrummaging.

Following a bright opening by the Islanders, Cipriani eventually got the scoreboard ticking after 10 minutes with a simple penalty. But it was the try which followed four minutes later which gave a glimpse of England's power.

Nippy work from Care set up the platform for the ball to fizz across the line, Cipriani, Flutey and Armitage all involved before Armitage flipped an intelligent reverse pass over his shoulder for Sackey to run in unopposed.
Johnson was far from pleased two minutes later when Cipriani's kick was charged down by Fiji's Seru Rabeni who gathered the ball and dived over the England line.

Not Cipriani's finest moment and another one followed immediately when Cipriani's restart went straight into touch.

Another Cipriani penalty was converted before the backline again showed its fleetness of foot, this time Harlequins wing Monye rounding the defence on the outside to give the supporting Cipriani the easiest of run-ins for his first England try.

Kennedy and hooker Mears added further tries but there was one sour note late on when Fiji number six Semisi Naevo received a yellow card for a nasty high tackle on Sackey as the Wasps wing went over for his second try.