England Claims 9th Consecutive Victory Against Tough Fijian Side

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

The English squad racked up 4 tries after halftime to beat a physical Fiji side in their second autumn international.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine matches and supports their win over the Wallabies the previous weekend.

The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Number ten Muntz missed both conversions but kicked a penalty to take the Fijians further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to ignite an entertaining second half.

Replacements Jamie George and Henry Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

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

England captain Itoje, who also came off the bench, secured the last touchdown.

The English team now meet the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this fall.

Prior to this encounter, England had won eight of their nine games with the Fijian side – most recently taking 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 major turning point under Borthwick.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their joint longest run since 1999 – the fixture was always likely to be tight.

After smooth attacking phases, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before the hooker barged over for the opening score from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was clear in defense through monstrous first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the first forty as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for the fly-half to score.

The winger sharply finished a kick across the field by Fin Smith to take the hosts ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a bunker review.

The English team broke clear from Australia last Saturday in the final quarter through the strength of their replacements that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab 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 versus the Italians in March.

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

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the goal line to negate substitute George's try.

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

It topped off another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who picked up back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

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

It is packed with top players and talent, which has aided in wins in the closing stages that were squandered against Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of sending a message next week.

Should they win, 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)