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Lancaster relieved after win

London - England coach Stuart Lancaster admitted his relief after his team started their World Cup campaign with a 35-11 win over Fiji on Friday.

England 35-11 Fiji

The tournament hosts started well with two early tries to build a 15-0 lead but Fiji struck back to make the game a contest before England scored two late tries.

"It was a big occasion and there were a few nerves. We got a good lead but didn't put the nail in the coffin," Lancaster told the BBC.

"We had to work hard and that last try late in the game was a massive relief. I don't think we were ever going to be on the end of a hiding at 18-11 but it was nervy.

"We didn't get our game plan into action. We have to be more direct, we were a little bit lateral. Our bench made us much quicker."

Lancaster said he would have taken the result before kickoff.

"We definitely have some decisions to make, we have two days to dwell on that," he said.

"We'll watch the game again, meet on Sunday and narrow down our selection next week."

England captain Chris Robshaw was equally relieved.

"We always knew it was going to be tough. Credit to Fiji, they put us under a lot of pressure," he said.

"We knew what a good recent record Fiji had and they made us work very hard.

"We have been training hard for 12 weeks so to finally get off to a winning start is what it is all about."

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