England Claims Ninth Consecutive Victory Over Tough 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 notched 4 second-half tries to defeat a resilient Fijian team in their latest autumn international.

This win lengthens Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine matches and backs up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

The home side got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before the visitors answered back with tries by Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

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

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then traded scores to spark an entertaining final forty minutes.

Replacements George and Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, touched down to take the hosts clear.

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

Skipper 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 fall.

Prior to this meeting, the English team had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most recently winning 30-24 in the last eight of the last global tournament.

That one defeat came just weeks before the competition in France and was a major turning point under the head coach.

With Fiji on a five-game streak – their joint longest streak since the late nineties – the fixture was always likely to be tight.

Following slick phase play, number eight Chandler 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 adding a quick response.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through monstrous first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the first forty as offloads sliced through the English defense 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 illegally challenged in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a bunker review.

The English team pulled away from Australia the previous weekend in the final quarter through the power of their bench that contained multiple Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Wallabies did score the following touchdown as Genge crossed following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles tendon against the Italians in spring.

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

With the game still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half the halfback lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to negate replacement George's try.

Breakdown specialist Earl, who scored versus Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.

It topped off another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who received consecutive man of the match honors.

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

It is full of stars and talent, which has aided in wins in the closing stages that were lost versus the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.

Considering the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will fancy their chances of sending a message this weekend.

If successful, 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)