England Earns 9th Straight 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

England notched 4 tries after halftime to overcome a resilient Fiji side in their second autumn international.

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

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

Fly-half Muntz failed to convert either try but kicked a penalty goal to take the visitors further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then traded scores to ignite an exciting second half.

Substitutes George and Henry Arundell, who demonstrated his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the hosts clear.

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

England captain Itoje, who also came off the bench, secured the final try.

Borthwick's side now play New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test on paper this autumn.

Before this encounter, England had won 8 of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most recently winning a close contest in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came just weeks before the tournament in France and was a major turning point under the head coach.

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

Following slick phase play, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the first try from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through monstrous opening period midfield hits, with number fifteen Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the standout moment in the opening half as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for Muntz to score.

The winger sharply finished 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 sin-binning following a video review.

The English team broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their bench that contained six Lions tourists.

A much-changed starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab the following touchdown as Genge crossed following a powerful run by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles against the Italians in spring.

However, after a smart line-out move was finished by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his bench on the 54-minute mark – featuring Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still up for grabs, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli lost control of the ball when stretching for the tryline to negate substitute the hooker's score.

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored against the Wallabies, produced a stunning game-saving stop to maintain breathing room between the sides.

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

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

It is full of top players and talent, which has helped secure victories in the final quarter that were squandered against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Considering Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of making a big statement next week.

Should they win, the substitutes 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)