England Earns Ninth Straight Win Against Tough 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

The English squad notched four second-half tries to beat a physical Fijian team in their latest autumn international.

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

The home side opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with tries by Ikanivere and Muntz.

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

Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to begin 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.

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

The English team now meet the All Blacks this coming weekend in their toughest test theoretically this fall.

Before this encounter, England had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most recently winning a close contest in the last eight of the last global tournament.

Their sole loss came two months prior the competition in Europe and was a major turning point under the head coach.

With Fiji on a five-game streak – their joint longest streak since 1999 – the fixture was always likely to be tight.

After smooth attacking phases, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker forced his way over for the opening score from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul adding a quick response.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through powerful first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the first forty as passes out of the tackle 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 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 the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their replacements that included six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the win over the Wallabies did grab the following touchdown as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles against Italy in March.

Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was completed by Ikanivere, Borthwick introduced five of his substitutes on the 54th minute – featuring Lions tourists Pollock and Curry.

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

Flanker Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by the flanker, who picked up consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

The substitute's speed to chase down a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with top players and quality, which has aided in wins in the closing stages that were lost against the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

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

If successful, the substitutes will probably 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)