England Earns Ninth Consecutive Victory Over Physical Fiji

Autumn International Series

England (14) 38

Tries: Cowan-Dickie, Feyi-Waboso, Genge, George, Arundell, Itoje Cons: F Smith 5

Fiji (13) 18

Tries: Ikanivere 2, Muntz Pen: Muntz

England notched four tries after halftime to beat a resilient Fijian team in their second fall test match.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine games and supports their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.

The home side got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors answered back with tries by Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Fly-half Muntz missed both conversions but slotted a penalty goal to take the visitors further clear before Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to spark an thrilling final forty minutes.

Substitutes George and Arundell, who demonstrated his scintillating pace, touched down to take the English side clear.

These tries came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.

Skipper Itoje, who also came off the bench, secured the final try.

Borthwick's side now play New Zealand next Saturday in their toughest test theoretically this autumn.

Prior to this meeting, England had claimed victory in eight of their 9 games with Fiji – most lately winning 30-24 in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came just weeks before the competition in France and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-game streak – their joint longest run since 1999 – the game was always expected to be tight.

Following slick phase play, back rower Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker barged over for the opening score from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defense through monstrous opening period tackles in the center, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the classic Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the opening half as passes out of the tackle cut England's defence open for Muntz to score.

The winger expertly collected a cross-field kick by Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a video review.

The English team pulled away from Australia last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that contained multiple Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did grab the following touchdown as the prop went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles tendon versus Italy in March.

However, after a smart set piece was finished by the Fijian, Borthwick unloaded five of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the goal line to negate replacement George's try.

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored versus the Wallabies, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to keep a narrow lead between the teams.

It topped off another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who picked up consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in wins in the final quarter that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Considering Scotland ran New Zealand close, the English team will fancy their chances of making a big statement this weekend.

Should they win, the substitutes will probably play another key factor.

England: M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Coles, Chessum, Pepper, Earl, Cunningham-South

Replacements: George, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, Arundell

Fiji: Rayasi; Ravutaumada, Ravouvou, Tuisova, Wainiqolo; Muntz, Kuruvoli; Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Nasilasila, Mayanavanua, Sowakula, Canakaivata, Mata

Replacements: Togiatama, Hetet, Tawake, Vocevoce, Murray, Wye, Armstrong-Ravula, Maqala

Sin-bin: Ravutaumada

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)

Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)