England Secures 9th Straight Win Over Physical Fiji

Quilter Nations 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

The English squad racked up 4 second-half tries to beat a tough Fiji side in their second autumn international.

This win lengthens Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine matches and backs up their triumph over Australia last Saturday.

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

Fly-half Muntz missed both conversions but nailed a penalty goal to take the visitors further ahead before Feyi-Waboso scored.

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

Substitutes George and Henry Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came either side of Fijian halfback Kuruvoli dropping the ball when going for the tryline.

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

Borthwick's side now meet the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this fall.

Prior to this meeting, England had won 8 of their 9 matches with Fiji – most recently winning 30-24 in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

Their sole loss came two months prior the tournament in Europe and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their joint longest run since 1999 – the game was always likely to be competitive.

Following smooth attacking phases, back rower Cunningham-South made good ground before the hooker barged over for the first try from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul adding a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defense through powerful first-half tackles in the center, with full-back Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.

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

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

England broke clear from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their replacements that included six Lions tourists.

A much-changed starting lineup from the victory over the Wallabies did score the next try as the prop crossed following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles against the Italians in spring.

However, after a smart line-out move was completed by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – featuring Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to cancel out substitute George's try.

Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a spectacular try-saving tackle to keep breathing room between the sides.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by the flanker, who picked up consecutive man of the match honors.

The substitute's speed to chase down a grubber kick showcased exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with top players and talent, which has helped secure wins in the final quarter that were lost versus the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

Considering the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, 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)