England Secures 9th Consecutive Victory Against 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

England scored 4 second-half tries to defeat a resilient Fijian team in their latest autumn international.

This win continues Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine games and follows up their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.

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

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

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then traded scores to ignite an entertaining final forty minutes.

Substitutes George and Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the hosts clear.

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

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

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

Prior to this match, the English team had won 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most recently taking a close contest in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

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

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-game streak – their joint longest streak since 1999 – the game was always likely to be hard-fought.

After smooth attacking phases, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the first try from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through monstrous first-half midfield hits, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight 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 kick across the field by Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a video review.

England pulled away from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the final quarter through the power of their bench that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the victory over the Australians did grab the following touchdown as Genge went over following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles versus Italy in spring.

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

With the match still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli 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 maintain breathing room between the sides.

It capped another outstanding overall 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 showcased exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in wins in the final quarter that were squandered against the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.

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

Should they win, the bench will likely 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)