England Secures 9th Straight Win Against 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 racked up 4 tries after halftime to defeat a tough Fijian team in their second autumn international.

The victory lengthens Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine matches and follows up their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.

England got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

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

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

Substitutes George and Arundell, who demonstrated his scintillating pace, touched down to take the hosts clear.

Those scores came either side of Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.

Skipper Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, scored the final try.

Borthwick's side now play the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this autumn.

Prior to this match, England had won eight of their 9 games with Fiji – most lately winning 30-24 in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

Their sole loss came just weeks before the tournament in France and was a significant shift under the head coach.

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

Following slick phase play, number eight Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the opening score from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through huge first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the first forty as offloads sliced through the English defense for Muntz to touch down.

Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a cross-field kick by Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a video review.

The English team broke clear from Australia the previous weekend in the final quarter through the impact of their replacements that included six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting lineup from the win over the Wallabies did score the next try as Genge went over following a powerful run by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles tendon against the Italians in March.

Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was finished by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – including Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to cancel out substitute the hooker's score.

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored versus Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to keep breathing room between the teams.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who received consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.

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

Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will fancy their chances of sending a message next week.

If successful, the bench 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)