The English Team Earns Ninth Straight Win Over Physical Fijian Side

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

The English squad racked up 4 tries after halftime to beat a resilient Fiji side in their second autumn international.

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

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

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

Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to spark an exciting final forty minutes.

Replacements Jamie George and Arundell, who showed his blistering speed, touched down to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.

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

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

Before this meeting, 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 2023 World Cup.

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

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their equal best streak since the late nineties – the game was always expected to be tight.

Following slick phase play, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker forced his way over for the first try from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul adding a swift reply.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was apparent in defence through powerful opening period midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the opening half as passes out of the tackle cut England's defence open for the fly-half to touch down.

The winger sharply finished a cross-field kick by Smith to take England ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a bunker review.

The English team broke clear from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that contained multiple British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did score the following touchdown as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles against Italy in March.

Nonetheless, after a clever line-out move was finished by the Fijian, Borthwick unloaded five of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still in the balance, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli fumbled of the ball when reaching for the goal line to negate replacement George's try.

Breakdown specialist Earl, a try-scorer versus Australia, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to maintain breathing room between the teams.

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

The substitute's speed to chase down a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so impactful.

It is full of stars and quality, which has aided in victories in the closing stages that were lost against the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, the English team will feel confident of making a big statement this weekend.

Should they win, 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)