The English Team Earns 9th Consecutive Win 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 second-half tries to beat a physical Fiji side in their second fall test match.

The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine matches and supports their triumph over the Wallabies the previous weekend.

England opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with scores by Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

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

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to begin an entertaining second half.

Substitutes Jamie George and Henry Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the hosts clear.

These tries came either side of Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when attempting to score.

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

The English team now face the All Blacks this coming weekend in their toughest test theoretically this fall.

Prior to this meeting, England had claimed victory in eight of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most lately taking a close contest in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came two months prior the competition in France and was a major turning point under Borthwick.

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their joint longest streak since the late nineties – the game 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 Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul providing a swift reply.

Nicknamed the Flying Fijians, that was apparent in defense through monstrous opening period tackles in the center, with full-back Marcus Smith, deployed as a additional 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 the fly-half to score.

Feyi-Waboso sharply finished a cross-field kick by Smith to take the hosts ahead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a video review.

The English team broke clear from Australia the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that included multiple British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the victory over the Wallabies did score the next try as the prop went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles versus Italy in March.

However, after a smart set piece was completed by Ikanivere, Borthwick unloaded five of his substitutes on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the match still in the balance, Fijian number nine the halfback lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out substitute George's try.

Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to maintain a narrow lead between the sides.

It capped another outstanding overall display by the flanker, who received back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

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

It is full of stars and quality, which has aided in wins in the closing stages that were squandered versus Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, the English team will fancy their chances of sending a message this weekend.

If successful, the substitutes will likely 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)