England Secures 9th Straight Win Over Physical 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 overcome a resilient Fiji side in their latest autumn international.

This win continues the English team's undefeated streak to nine matches and supports their win over Australia the previous weekend.

The home side opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with scores by Ikanivere and Muntz.

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

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to spark an thrilling second half.

Substitutes Jamie George and Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, touched down to take the hosts clear.

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

Skipper Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, grabbed the final try.

Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand next Saturday in their toughest test on paper this fall.

Prior to this match, England had won 8 of their nine games with the Fijian side – most lately taking 30-24 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 Borthwick.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their equal best run since 1999 – the game was always expected to be hard-fought.

After slick phase play, back rower 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 driving maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through powerful first-half tackles in the center, with number fifteen Smith, used as a second playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment 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 Fin Smith to take England ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a bunker review.

The English team broke clear from Australia last Saturday in the final quarter through the impact of their bench that contained multiple Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting XV from the victory over the Wallabies did score the next try as the prop went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles versus Italy in March.

Nonetheless, after a smart line-out move was completed by the Fijian, the coach introduced five of his substitutes on the 54th minute – featuring Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

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

Flanker Earl, who scored against the Wallabies, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to maintain breathing room between the teams.

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

Arundell's pace to chase down a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.

It is full of top players and quality, which has helped secure victories in the closing stages that were lost versus the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

Given the Scottish side ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of making a big statement next week.

Should they win, the substitutes will probably 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)