England Earns 9th Straight Victory 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

The English squad scored four tries after halftime to beat a resilient Fiji side in their latest autumn international.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine games and follows up their triumph over the Wallabies the previous weekend.

The home side got on the board first through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Number ten Muntz failed to convert either try but slotted a penalty goal to take the Fijians further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to spark an entertaining final forty minutes.

Replacements Jamie George and Henry Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came either side of 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 face New Zealand next Saturday in their biggest challenge on paper this autumn.

Prior to this match, England had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most lately winning 30-24 in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

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 streak since the late nineties – the fixture was always likely to be tight.

After smooth attacking phases, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the first try from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was apparent in defense through huge first-half tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the standout moment in the first forty as offloads cut England's defence open for Muntz to score.

The winger expertly collected a kick across the field by Fin Smith to take England into the lead 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 last Saturday in the final quarter through the impact of their replacements that included six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab the next try as Genge crossed following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles tendon versus Italy in spring.

However, after a smart line-out move was finished by the Fijian, the coach unloaded five of his bench on the 54-minute mark – including Lions players Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when stretching for the tryline to negate replacement George's try.

Flanker Earl, a try-scorer versus the Wallabies, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to keep a narrow lead between the teams.

It capped another outstanding overall display by Earl, who picked up consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

The substitute's speed to chase down a kick through showcased exactly why the English replacements is so influential.

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

Given the Scottish side ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will feel confident of making a big statement this weekend.

If successful, the bench 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)