England Secures Ninth Consecutive Victory Against Tough 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 notched four tries after halftime to defeat a tough Fijian team in their second fall test match.

The victory continues the English team's undefeated streak to nine games and supports their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.

The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with scores by Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Number ten Muntz failed to convert either try but kicked a penalty to take the Fijians further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to begin an entertaining final forty minutes.

Substitutes Jamie George and Arundell, who displayed his blistering speed, touched down to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came around Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

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

Borthwick's side now play New Zealand next Saturday in their toughest test theoretically this autumn.

Prior to this meeting, England had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most lately winning a close contest in the last eight of the last global tournament.

Their sole loss came just weeks before the competition in Europe and was a major turning point under the head coach.

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

Following smooth attacking phases, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker forced his way over for the first try from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul providing a swift reply.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through huge first-half midfield hits, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the standout moment in the opening half as passes out of the tackle cut England's defence open for Muntz to score.

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

The English team broke clear from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their bench that included multiple Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Australians did score the next try as the prop went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles versus Italy in March.

However, after a smart line-out move was completed by Ikanivere, Borthwick introduced several of his substitutes on the 54th minute – featuring Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still up for grabs, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to cancel out substitute the hooker's score.

Flanker Earl, a try-scorer versus Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain a narrow lead between the sides.

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

Arundell's pace to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is full of stars and quality, which has aided in wins in the final quarter that were squandered against the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

Considering the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will feel confident of making a big statement next week.

If successful, 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)