The English Team Claims Ninth Consecutive Victory Against 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 scored four tries after halftime to beat a tough Fiji side in their latest autumn international.

This win lengthens Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine matches and supports their win over Australia last Saturday.

England opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Number ten Muntz missed both conversions but slotted a penalty goal to take the Fijians further ahead before Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then traded scores to spark an thrilling final forty minutes.

Replacements Jamie George and Arundell, who displayed his blistering speed, touched down to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came around Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

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

Borthwick's side now face New Zealand this coming weekend in their biggest challenge on paper this autumn.

Before this encounter, England had won 8 of their nine matches with Fiji – most recently winning 30-24 in the last eight of the last global tournament.

That one defeat came two months prior the competition in Europe and was a significant shift under the head coach.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-match winning run – their equal best run since 1999 – the fixture was always expected to be competitive.

Following smooth attacking phases, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before the hooker barged over for the first try from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was evident in defence through monstrous opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the classic Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the opening half 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 Fin Smith to take the hosts ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a bunker review.

England pulled away from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the power of their bench that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Australians did grab the next try as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles tendon versus the Italians in spring.

Nonetheless, after a clever set piece was completed by the Fijian, the coach introduced five of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – featuring Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out replacement the hooker's score.

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored against Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain breathing room between the teams.

It capped another outstanding overall performance by the flanker, who picked up back-to-back man of the match honors.

The substitute's speed to race on to a kick through showcased exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.

It is packed with top players and quality, which has helped secure victories in the closing stages that were squandered against the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will feel confident of sending a message next week.

If successful, 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)