England Claims Ninth Consecutive Victory Against Physical 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 four tries after halftime to beat a resilient Fiji side in their latest autumn international.

The victory extends Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine matches and follows up their win over Australia last Saturday.

The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before the visitors answered back with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Fly-half Muntz missed both conversions but nailed a penalty goal to take the visitors further clear before Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to spark an thrilling second half.

Substitutes Jamie George and Henry Arundell, who showed his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the English side clear.

Those scores came either side of Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli dropping the ball when attempting to score.

England captain Maro Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, scored the last touchdown.

Borthwick's side now play New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test theoretically this fall.

Prior to this meeting, the English team had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most lately winning 30-24 in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

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

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

After slick phase play, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the first try from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a swift reply.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through powerful opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in particular picked out.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the first forty as offloads sliced through the English defense for Muntz to score.

The winger expertly collected a kick across the field by Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a bunker review.

England broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that included six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab the following touchdown as Genge crossed following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles versus Italy in spring.

Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was finished by Ikanivere, Borthwick introduced five of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fijian number nine the halfback lost control of the ball when stretching for the goal line to negate substitute George's try.

Flanker Earl, who scored against Australia, produced a spectacular game-saving stop 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 the English replacements is so influential.

It is packed with top players and talent, which has aided in victories in the final quarter that were squandered versus the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

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

Should they win, the substitutes 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)