LONDON — England overcame a rusty start to sweep past Fiji 54-12 in the first of its four Twickenham internationals Saturday as Stuart Lancaster's fledgling side ran in seven tries for a record victory against the outclassed islanders. After being forced onto the back foot for the opening quarter, England, with its most inexperienced lineup for years, settled and quickly took complete command to lead 25-0 at the break with tries by wingers Charlie Sharples and Ugo Monye and a penalty try. Flanker Tom Johnson, a second for Sharples and two for Manu Tuilagi reflected England's continuing dominance, although scrumhalf Nikola Matawalu scored a typically adventurous 65-meter try and Seko Kalou also crossed for the visitors. England next faces Australia followed by South Africa and New Zealand, while Fiji plays an Ireland XV in a non-cap match. Italy edges Tonga In Rome, Italy kicked-off its three test November series with a tough 28-23 win over Tonga in Brescia Saturday. First-half tries to front-rowers Lorenzo Cittadini and Leonardo Ghiraldini, as well as a penalty try awarded just after the hour, were enough to see the Azzurri to their third straight win. Italy got off to a fast start, crossing the line with only six minutes gone thanks to man-of-the-match Cittadini, but Tonga was more than a match for its host and pulled into the lead through prop Alisona Taumalolo just after the half hour. Ghiraldini grabbed the lead back for the hosts on the stroke of halftime, handing them an 18-16 advantage heading into the second half. Italy thought it had the match sewn up when it was awarded a penalty try, converted by Kris Burton, just after the hour which extended its lead to 12 points. However, Jacques Brunel's side, which still hasn't shaken off its habit of making unforced errors, went to sleep and allowed Fetu'u Vainikolo to pounce onto a smart diagonal kick on 67 minutes to shave the deficit to only five points. Italy managed to hold on to its lead however, and record a welcome confidence boost ahead of the tougher challenges to come against the world champion All Blacks and Australia. Pumas down Wales Argentina humbled Wales 26-12, 11 years to the day after its only previous victory at Millennium Stadium over the Six Nations rugby champion. The Pumas dominated territory and possession and showed far more ambition as they scored the only two tries, coming from 12-6 down with less than half an hour to go. Wales was limited to penalty goals, paying the price for aimless kicking and uninspired attacking in the face of a Pumas defense sharpened by their inaugural Rugby Championship campaign with the southern hemisphere powers. — Agencies
