The English Team Claims 9th Straight 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

England racked up four second-half tries to beat a tough Fiji side in their latest fall test match.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine matches and follows up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

England opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

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

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then traded scores to begin an thrilling second half.

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

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

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

Borthwick's side now play New Zealand this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this fall.

Before this encounter, the English team had won 8 of their 9 matches with Fiji – most lately taking 30-24 in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came just weeks before the competition in France and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their joint longest run since the late nineties – the game was always expected to be hard-fought.

Following smooth attacking phases, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the opening score from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through huge first-half tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the opening half as offloads cut England's defence open for the fly-half to score.

Feyi-Waboso sharply finished a kick across the field by Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a video review.

England pulled away from the Wallabies last Saturday in the final quarter through the power of their replacements that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory 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 suffering his Achilles versus the Italians in spring.

Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was completed by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – featuring Lions tourists Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still up for grabs, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out replacement the hooker's score.

Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer against the Wallabies, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to keep breathing room between the sides.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who received consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

The substitute's speed to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.

It is packed with top players and talent, which has helped secure wins in the final quarter that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will feel confident of sending a message this weekend.

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)