The English Team Earns 9th Straight Win Over Tough 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

The English squad notched four tries after halftime to defeat a resilient Fiji side in their second fall test match.

The victory extends the English team's winning run to nine matches and backs up their triumph over Australia last Saturday.

The home side got on the board first through hooker Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

Fly-half the Fijian playmaker failed to convert either try but slotted a penalty to take the Fijians further ahead before Feyi-Waboso scored.

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to ignite an thrilling second half.

Replacements Jamie George and Arundell, who demonstrated his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came either side of Fiji scrum-half Simi Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

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

Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand next Saturday in their toughest test theoretically this fall.

Before this meeting, the English team had won eight of their 9 games with Fiji – most recently taking a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

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

With Fiji on a five-game streak – their joint longest run since 1999 – the game was always likely to be competitive.

After slick phase play, back rower Chandler Cunningham-South made good ground before the hooker forced his way over for the first try from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul providing a quick response.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through monstrous first-half tackles in the center, with number fifteen Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in particular targeted.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the opening half as offloads cut England's defence open for Muntz to touch down.

Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a video review.

England pulled away from Australia last Saturday in the final quarter through the impact of their bench that included multiple British and Irish Lions.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the win over the Australians did score the next try as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles against Italy in March.

However, after a clever line-out move was finished by the Fijian, the coach introduced several of his bench on the 54-minute mark – including Lions tourists Pollock and Tom Curry.

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

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

It topped off 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 England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with stars and talent, which has aided in victories in the closing stages that were squandered versus Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Considering Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will feel confident 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)