England Secures 9th Straight Victory Against Tough Fijian Side

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

England racked up four second-half tries to overcome a resilient Fiji side in their second fall test match.

This win lengthens Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine matches and follows up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

England opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

Number ten the Fijian playmaker missed both conversions but nailed a penalty goal to take the visitors further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then traded scores to spark an entertaining final forty minutes.

Replacements George and Henry Arundell, who displayed his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

These tries came either side of Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli spilling the ball when going for the tryline.

Skipper Maro Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, scored the final try.

The English team now play New Zealand this coming weekend in their biggest challenge theoretically this fall.

Prior to this encounter, the English team had won eight of their nine games with Fiji – most lately winning a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

Their sole loss came just weeks before the competition in Europe and was a significant shift under Borthwick.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their equal best streak since the late nineties – the fixture was always likely to be tight.

Following smooth attacking phases, number eight Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the first try from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul providing a swift reply.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was apparent in defense through monstrous first-half tackles in the center, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in particular targeted.

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

Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a kick across the field by Smith to take England ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a video review.

England pulled away from Australia last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their replacements that included six Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab 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.

Nonetheless, after a smart line-out move was completed by Ikanivere, Borthwick unloaded several of his substitutes on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Pollock and Curry.

With the match still in the balance, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli lost control of the ball when reaching for the tryline to negate substitute the hooker's score.

Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer versus the Wallabies, produced a spectacular try-saving tackle to maintain breathing room between the sides.

It topped off another outstanding overall performance by Earl, 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 influential.

It is packed with top players and quality, which has helped secure wins in the final quarter that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side 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)