England Secures 9th Consecutive Victory 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

England racked up 4 tries after halftime to overcome a resilient Fijian team in their second autumn international.

This win extends Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine matches and backs up their win over the Wallabies the previous weekend.

The home side got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

Fly-half Muntz missed both conversions but nailed a penalty goal to take the visitors further ahead before Feyi-Waboso scored.

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to spark an thrilling final forty minutes.

Substitutes George and Arundell, who displayed his scintillating pace, touched down to take the English side clear.

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

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

Borthwick's side now play the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge theoretically this autumn.

Before this encounter, England had won 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most recently winning a close contest in the last eight of the last global tournament.

That one defeat came two months prior the competition in Europe and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

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

After smooth attacking phases, number eight Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the opening score from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was apparent in defence through huge first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the first forty as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for the fly-half to score.

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 Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a bunker review.

England broke clear from Australia last Saturday in the final quarter through the power of their bench that included six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did grab the next try as Genge crossed following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles tendon versus the Italians in March.

However, after a smart line-out move was completed by the Fijian, the coach introduced five of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – including Lions players Pollock and Curry.

With the game still up for grabs, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli fumbled of the ball when stretching for the goal line to cancel out replacement the hooker's score.

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

It capped another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who picked up consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to race on to a grubber kick showcased exactly why England's bench is so impactful.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has helped secure wins in the closing stages that were lost against the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.

Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will feel confident of sending a message this weekend.

If successful, the substitutes 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)