England Claims Ninth Straight Win Against Tough 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

The English squad notched 4 second-half tries to defeat a physical Fiji side in their second fall test match.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine games and backs up their win over Australia last Saturday.

England got on the board first through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

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

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to begin an exciting second half.

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

Those scores came either side of Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when attempting to score.

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

The English team now face the All Blacks this coming weekend in their toughest test on paper this autumn.

Before this meeting, England had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most lately taking 30-24 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 the Pacific Islanders on a five-game streak – their equal best 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 barged over for the first try from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a swift reply.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through monstrous opening period midfield hits, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in particular targeted.

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

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

England broke clear from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the final quarter through the strength of their bench that contained multiple British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Wallabies did score the next try 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 spring.

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

With the match still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half the halfback lost control of the ball when stretching for the tryline to negate replacement George's try.

Breakdown specialist Earl, who scored versus the Wallabies, produced a stunning game-saving stop to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.

It capped another outstanding overall display by Earl, who received back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

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

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

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, the English team will fancy their chances of making a big statement next week.

If successful, the bench will likely play another key factor.

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)