England Earns Ninth Consecutive Win Over Tough Fijian Side

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

England racked up four second-half tries to defeat a resilient Fiji side in their latest autumn international.

The victory extends the English team's winning run to nine matches and supports their triumph over Australia last Saturday.

The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

Fly-half the Fijian playmaker missed both conversions but nailed a penalty to take the visitors further clear before Feyi-Waboso scored.

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

Replacements Jamie George and Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, touched down to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

These tries came either side of Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.

England captain Itoje, who also came off the bench, grabbed the last touchdown.

The English team now play the All Blacks next Saturday in their biggest challenge theoretically this fall.

Prior to this match, the English team had won eight of their nine matches with Fiji – most lately taking a close contest in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came just weeks before the tournament in Europe and was a significant shift under the head coach.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their equal best streak since the late nineties – the fixture was always expected to be hard-fought.

Following smooth attacking phases, number eight Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker barged over for the first try 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 apparent in defence through monstrous opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in particular targeted.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the first forty as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for Muntz to score.

Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a kick across the field by Smith to take the hosts ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a video review.

The English team broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the victory over the Australians did grab the next try as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles against the Italians in March.

Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was completed by Ikanivere, the coach unloaded several of his bench on the 54th minute – featuring Lions players Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fijian number nine the halfback lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out substitute George's try.

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored against Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to keep breathing room between the sides.

It capped another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who picked up back-to-back man of the match honors.

The substitute's speed to race on to a kick through demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so influential.

It is full of stars and talent, which has helped secure wins in the final quarter that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will feel confident of making a big statement next week.

Should they win, the substitutes will likely 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)