England Claims Ninth Consecutive Win Over Physical 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 scored four second-half tries to beat a tough Fijian team in their second autumn international.

The victory extends the English team's undefeated streak to nine games and backs up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

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

Number ten Muntz missed both conversions but nailed a penalty to take the visitors further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to ignite an entertaining final forty minutes.

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

These tries came either side of Fiji scrum-half Simi Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when attempting to score.

England captain Maro Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, secured the final try.

Borthwick's side now play New Zealand next Saturday in their toughest test theoretically this autumn.

Before this meeting, the English team had claimed victory in eight of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most recently winning a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

Their sole loss came just weeks before the competition in France and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their equal best run since 1999 – the game was always likely to be hard-fought.

After smooth attacking phases, back rower 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.

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

But it was the classic Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the first forty as offloads sliced through the English defense for Muntz to score.

The winger expertly collected a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take the hosts ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a bunker review.

The English team pulled away from the Wallabies last Saturday in the final quarter through the power of their bench that included six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the win over the Australians did score the next try as the prop went over following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles against the Italians in March.

Nonetheless, after a clever line-out move was finished by the Fijian, the coach introduced five of his bench on the 54th minute – featuring Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to cancel out replacement George's try.

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

It capped another all-round impressive display by the flanker, who received back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

The substitute's speed to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so impactful.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in victories in the final quarter that were squandered versus Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of making a big statement next week.

Should they win, the bench will likely 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)