England Secures 9th Straight Victory Over Physical 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

England racked up 4 second-half tries to overcome a physical Fijian team in their second fall test match.

This win extends the English team's undefeated streak to nine matches and backs up their win over Australia last Saturday.

The home side got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with tries by Ikanivere and Muntz.

Number ten the Fijian playmaker failed to convert either try but kicked a penalty to take the Fijians further ahead before Feyi-Waboso scored.

Ellis Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to spark an exciting final forty minutes.

Substitutes George and Henry Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, touched down to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came around Fijian halfback Simi Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

England captain Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, scored the final try.

The English team now meet the All Blacks this coming weekend in their biggest challenge theoretically this fall.

Before this meeting, the English team had claimed victory in eight of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most lately winning 30-24 in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

That one defeat came just weeks before the competition in Europe and was a significant shift under the head coach.

With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their joint longest run since the late nineties – the game was always likely to be hard-fought.

Following slick phase play, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie forced his way over for the first try from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defence through huge opening period tackles in the center, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight 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 cross-field kick by Smith to take England into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a bunker review.

The English team pulled away from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the final quarter through the impact of their bench that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Wallabies did score the following touchdown as Genge went over following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles against the Italians in spring.

However, after a clever set piece was completed by the Fijian, the coach introduced several of his substitutes on the 54th minute – including Lions players Pollock and Curry.

With the match still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to negate substitute George's try.

Flanker Earl, a try-scorer versus the Wallabies, produced a spectacular try-saving tackle to keep a narrow lead between the teams.

It capped another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who picked up back-to-back man of the match honors.

Arundell's pace to chase down a kick through showcased exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.

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

Considering the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of sending a message this weekend.

If successful, the substitutes will probably play another key factor.

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)