Crossword Genius

Fire England's opening pair so close to game (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

enthuse

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fire' is the definition.
(I know that enthuse is a more specific form of the action excite)

'england's opening pair so close to game' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'so' could be 'thus' (synonyms) and 'thus' is found in the answer.
'england' could be 'e' (short for England) and 'e' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ne' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for enthuse that I've seen before include "Gush in praise" , "Seem keen" , "Excite - show excitement" , "Make keen" , "Show strong approval" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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