England Secures Ninth Consecutive Victory 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 4 second-half tries to defeat a physical Fijian team in their second autumn international.

This win continues the English team's winning run to nine matches and backs up their win over Australia last Saturday.

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

Number ten Muntz failed to convert either try but kicked a penalty to take the visitors further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to begin an exciting final forty minutes.

Replacements Jamie George and Henry Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

These tries came either side of Fiji scrum-half Simi Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when attempting to score.

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

Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test on paper this fall.

Before this encounter, England had won 8 of their nine games with Fiji – most recently winning a close contest in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came two months prior the tournament in France and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

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

After smooth attacking phases, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the first try from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul adding a quick response.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was apparent in defence through powerful first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the standout moment in the opening half as offloads cut England's defence open for the fly-half to touch down.

The winger sharply finished a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take England ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a video review.

England pulled away from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their replacements that contained multiple British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the victory over the Australians did score the following touchdown as Genge went over following a powerful run by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles against the Italians in March.

However, after a clever set piece was finished by Ikanivere, the coach introduced several of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Pollock and Tom Curry.

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

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

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

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

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

Considering Scotland ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will feel confident of sending a message next week.

If successful, the substitutes will probably again be crucial.

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)