The English Team Earns 9th 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 notched four tries after halftime to beat a physical Fijian team in their latest autumn international.

The victory lengthens the English team's undefeated streak to nine games and backs up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

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

Fly-half the Fijian playmaker failed to convert either try but nailed a penalty goal to take the visitors further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.

Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then traded scores to begin an thrilling second half.

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

Those scores came either side of Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when going for the tryline.

Skipper Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, secured the last touchdown.

The English team now play the All Blacks next Saturday in their toughest test on paper this autumn.

Prior to this match, the English team had claimed victory in eight of their nine matches with Fiji – most recently taking a close contest in the last eight of the 2023 World Cup.

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

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their equal best streak since 1999 – the game was always likely to be hard-fought.

After slick phase play, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker barged over for the opening score from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul adding a swift reply.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was apparent in defense through powerful opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the standout moment in the first forty as passes out of the tackle cut England's defence open for the fly-half 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 Ravutaumada, who was awarded a yellow card following a video review.

England broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their bench that contained six Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Australians did score the next try as Genge went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles tendon versus the Italians in March.

However, after a clever set piece was finished by the Fijian, Borthwick introduced several of his bench on the 54-minute mark – featuring Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Curry.

With the match still in the balance, Fijian number nine the halfback lost control of the ball when stretching for the tryline to cancel out replacement George's try.

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 display by Earl, who picked up back-to-back 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 packed with top players and quality, which has helped secure victories in the closing stages that were squandered against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Considering the Scottish side ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of making a big statement next week.

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)