The English Team Earns Ninth Consecutive Win Over Tough 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 scored 4 second-half tries to beat a resilient Fijian team in their latest fall test match.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine games and supports their win over the Wallabies last Saturday.

England got on the board first through Luke Cowan-Dickie before the visitors answered back with scores by Ikanivere and Muntz.

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

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to spark an entertaining second half.

Substitutes Jamie George and Arundell, who displayed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the English side clear.

Those scores came either side of Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli dropping the ball when going for the tryline.

England captain Itoje, who also came off the bench, scored the last touchdown.

The English team now play the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this autumn.

Prior to this encounter, the English team had won 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most lately winning 30-24 in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came just weeks before the tournament in France and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

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

After slick phase play, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before the hooker forced his way over for the opening score from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul adding a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through monstrous first-half midfield hits, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the first forty as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for the fly-half to touch down.

The winger expertly collected a kick across the field by Smith to take England ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a bunker review.

England broke clear from Australia the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their replacements that included multiple British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting lineup from the victory over the Australians did score the following touchdown as the prop crossed following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles versus Italy in March.

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

With the match still up for grabs, Fijian number nine the halfback lost control of the ball when stretching for the tryline to negate replacement the hooker's score.

Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to maintain breathing room between the sides.

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 grubber kick showcased exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in wins in the closing stages that were squandered versus the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.

Given the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will fancy their chances of making a big statement this weekend.

Should they win, the bench will probably again be crucial.

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)