England Claims 9th Consecutive Victory Over Physical 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 resilient Fiji side in their latest fall test match.

The victory extends Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine games and follows up their triumph over the Wallabies the previous weekend.

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

Number ten Muntz failed to convert either try but slotted a penalty to take the Fijians further ahead before Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then traded scores to ignite an entertaining second half.

Substitutes George and Henry Arundell, who showed his blistering speed, touched down to take the English side clear.

These tries came either side of Fijian halfback Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.

England captain Itoje, who also came off the bench, scored the final try.

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

Before this meeting, England had claimed victory in 8 of their nine games with Fiji – most lately winning a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

That one defeat came just weeks before the tournament in France and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

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 tight.

Following smooth attacking phases, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the first try from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul adding a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was evident in defence through monstrous first-half tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.

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

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

The English team pulled away from Australia the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their replacements that contained multiple Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting XV from the victory over the Australians did score the following touchdown as Genge went over following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles tendon against Italy in March.

However, after a smart line-out move was completed by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Curry.

With the match still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when stretching for the goal line to negate replacement the hooker's score.

Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, a try-scorer versus the Wallabies, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to keep a narrow lead between the teams.

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

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

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in victories in the closing stages that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

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

Should they win, 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)