England Secures 9th Straight Win Over Physical 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

England racked up 4 second-half tries to beat a resilient Fiji side in their second fall test match.

The victory extends Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine games and supports their triumph over Australia the previous weekend.

England opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

Fly-half Muntz failed to convert either try but slotted a penalty to take the Fijians further clear before Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to begin an exciting second half.

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

These tries came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli dropping the ball when attempting to score.

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

The English team now face New Zealand next Saturday in their biggest challenge on paper this autumn.

Before this match, England had claimed victory in eight of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most lately taking a close contest in the last eight of the last global tournament.

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

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

Following slick phase play, back rower Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the opening score from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through powerful first-half tackles in the center, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the standout moment in the first forty as offloads cut England's defence open for Muntz to score.

The winger sharply finished a cross-field kick by Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a bunker review.

England pulled away from Australia the previous weekend in the final quarter through the power of their replacements that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Australians did score the following touchdown as the prop went over following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles tendon against the Italians in March.

However, after a smart set piece was completed by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Curry.

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

Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, who scored versus the Wallabies, produced a stunning game-saving stop to keep breathing room between the teams.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who picked up back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

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

It is packed with stars and quality, which has helped secure victories in the closing stages that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will feel confident 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)