England Secures 9th 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
England racked up 4 second-half tries to defeat a resilient Fiji side in their latest autumn international.
The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine matches and backs up their triumph over Australia the previous weekend.
The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.
Number ten Muntz failed to convert either try but nailed a penalty to take the visitors further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.
Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to begin an exciting second half.
Substitutes George and Arundell, who displayed his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.
Those scores came around Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.
Skipper Maro Itoje, who also came off the bench, secured the final try.
Borthwick's side now meet the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this autumn.
The Fijians Start Fast to Challenge The English
Prior to this meeting, the English team had won 8 of their 9 matches with Fiji – most recently taking a close contest in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup.
Their sole loss came two months prior the competition in Europe and was a major turning point under the head coach.
With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their joint longest streak since the late nineties – the fixture was always expected to be hard-fought.
After slick phase play, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker forced his way over for the first try from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.
Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was clear in defense through powerful opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in especial targeted.
But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the opening half as offloads sliced through the English defense for Muntz to score.
Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a video review.
England's Impact Substitutes Delivers Again
England broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the final quarter through the strength of their bench that contained six Lions tourists.
A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did score the following touchdown as Genge crossed following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles tendon against the Italians in spring.
However, after a clever line-out move was finished by the Fijian, the coach unloaded several of his substitutes on the 54th minute – featuring Lions players Pollock and Curry.
With the game still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half the halfback lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out replacement the hooker's score.
Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to keep a narrow lead between the teams.
It capped another all-round impressive performance by the flanker, who received consecutive player-of-the-match awards.
Arundell's pace to chase down a kick through demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so impactful.
It is full of top players and quality, which has helped secure wins in the final quarter that were lost versus the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.
Considering the Scottish side ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will feel confident of making a big statement next week.
If successful, the substitutes will likely again be crucial.
Team Sheets
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
Refereeing Team
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
