England Claims 9th Consecutive Win Over Tough 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 4 tries after halftime to defeat a physical Fiji side in their latest fall test match.

The victory extends the English team's undefeated streak to nine matches and backs up their triumph over the Wallabies the previous weekend.

The home side opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors answered back with scores by Ikanivere and Muntz.

Fly-half Muntz failed to convert either try but slotted a penalty to take the visitors further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to begin an entertaining second half.

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

These tries came around Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

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

Borthwick's side now play the All Blacks next Saturday in their biggest challenge on paper this fall.

Prior to this encounter, England had won eight of their nine 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 Europe and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

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

After slick phase play, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker forced his way over for the first try from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.

Nicknamed the Flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through huge first-half tackles in the center, with full-back Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in particular picked out.

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

Feyi-Waboso sharply finished a cross-field kick by Smith to take England ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a video review.

The English team broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the final quarter through the impact of their replacements that included multiple British and Irish Lions.

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

Nonetheless, after a smart line-out move was finished by Ikanivere, Borthwick unloaded five of his bench on the 54-minute mark – including Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still up for grabs, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli fumbled of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out substitute George's try.

Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer versus Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to keep breathing room between the sides.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who picked up back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to chase down a kick through showcased exactly why the English replacements is so influential.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in wins in the final quarter that were squandered against Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given 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 bench 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)