England Secures Ninth 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 notched four second-half tries to beat a tough Fijian team in their second autumn international.

The victory continues the English team's winning run to nine matches and supports their triumph over Australia the previous weekend.

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

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

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to spark an exciting second half.

Substitutes Jamie George and Arundell, who displayed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli dropping the ball when going for the tryline.

England captain Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, scored the last touchdown.

The English team now face New Zealand next Saturday in their biggest challenge theoretically this autumn.

Before this match, the English team had claimed victory in eight of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most recently winning 30-24 in the last eight of the last global tournament.

That one defeat came two months prior the competition in Europe and was a major turning point under Borthwick.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their equal best run since the late nineties – the game was always likely to be tight.

Following smooth attacking phases, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the opening score from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul adding a swift reply.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was apparent in defense through huge first-half tackles in the center, with full-back Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in particular targeted.

But it was the classic Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the opening half as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for the fly-half to touch down.

Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take England ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by 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 impact of their bench that included six Lions tourists.

A much-changed starting lineup from the victory over the Wallabies did grab the following touchdown as the prop went over following a powerful run by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles versus the Italians in spring.

However, after a smart line-out move was completed by the Fijian, the coach introduced five of his substitutes on the 54th minute – including Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still up for grabs, Fijian number nine the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to cancel out replacement the hooker's score.

Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, a try-scorer versus Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.

It topped off another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who received consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

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

It is packed with top players and talent, which has helped secure wins in the closing stages that were squandered against Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will feel confident of making a big statement next week.

If successful, 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)