England Earns 9th Straight Victory 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
The English squad racked up 4 second-half tries to beat a physical Fijian team in their second autumn international.
The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine matches and supports their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.
The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.
Number ten Muntz missed both conversions but kicked a penalty goal to take the visitors further ahead before Feyi-Waboso crossed.
Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then traded scores to ignite an exciting final forty minutes.
Substitutes Jamie George and Arundell, who showed his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the English side clear.
These tries came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when attempting to score.
England captain Maro Itoje, who also came off the bench, scored the final try.
Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test theoretically this autumn.
Fiji Begin Strongly to Challenge The English
Prior to this encounter, the English team had claimed victory in eight of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most recently winning 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 major turning point under Borthwick.
With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their joint longest streak since 1999 – the fixture was always expected to be competitive.
After slick phase play, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the opening score from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul providing a swift reply.
Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was evident in defence through powerful first-half midfield hits, with full-back Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in particular targeted.
But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the first forty as offloads cut England's defence open for the fly-half to score.
The winger sharply finished a cross-field kick by Smith to take the hosts ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a video review.
England's Star Bench Delivers Again
England broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the power of their bench that included multiple British and Irish Lions.
A much-changed starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab the next try as Genge went over following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles tendon versus Italy in March.
However, after a clever line-out move was finished by Ikanivere, Borthwick unloaded five of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – including Lions tourists Pollock and Curry.
With the game still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli fumbled of the ball when stretching for the tryline to negate substitute the hooker's score.
Flanker Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to keep breathing room between the teams.
It topped off another all-round impressive display by Earl, who picked up 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 top players and talent, which has aided in 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, the English team will feel confident of sending a message next week.
If successful, the substitutes will likely play another key factor.
Line-ups
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
Match Officials
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
