England Claims 9th Consecutive Win 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 notched four second-half tries to defeat a resilient Fijian team in their second fall test match.

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

England got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors answered back with scores by 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 traded scores to spark an exciting second half.

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

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

England captain Maro Itoje, who also came off the bench, scored the last touchdown.

The English team now face New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test theoretically this autumn.

Prior to this encounter, England had claimed victory in 8 of their nine matches with the Fijian side – most recently taking a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

Their sole loss came two months prior the competition in Europe and was a significant shift under the head coach.

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.

After slick phase play, back rower Chandler 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 swift reply.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was apparent in defence through powerful opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in particular targeted.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment 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 ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a video review.

England broke clear from Australia the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the power of their replacements that contained six Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did score the following touchdown as Genge went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles versus the Italians in spring.

Nonetheless, after a clever line-out move was completed by the Fijian, the coach unloaded five of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – featuring Lions tourists Pollock and Curry.

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

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored against Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain 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 chase down a kick through demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so influential.

It is packed with top players and talent, which has helped secure victories in the final quarter 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 sending a message next week.

If successful, 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)