The English Team Claims 9th Consecutive Victory Over Tough Fiji

Autumn International 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 4 second-half tries to defeat a tough Fiji side in their latest autumn international.

The victory extends the English team's undefeated streak to nine matches and follows up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

England opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with tries by Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.

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

Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to begin an entertaining second half.

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

Those scores came around Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli dropping the ball when going for the tryline.

England captain Itoje, who also came off the bench, grabbed the final try.

Borthwick's side now face the All Blacks next Saturday in their toughest test theoretically this fall.

Prior to this encounter, the English team had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most recently winning a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

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

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

Following slick phase play, number eight Cunningham-South made good ground before Cowan-Dickie barged over for the first try from short distance, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a maul adding a swift reply.

Known as the flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through powerful first-half tackles in the center, with full-back Smith, used as a additional playmaker, in particular targeted.

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 touch down.

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 Selestino Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a bunker review.

England pulled away from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the strength of their replacements that contained six British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting XV from the victory over the Australians did score the following touchdown as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles tendon against Italy in spring.

However, after a clever line-out move was finished by the Fijian, the coach unloaded several of his substitutes on the 54th minute – including Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.

With the game still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback lost control of the ball when reaching for the tryline to negate substitute the hooker's score.

Breakdown specialist Earl, who scored against Australia, produced a stunning game-saving stop to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.

It topped off another outstanding overall performance by the flanker, who received back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to chase down a grubber kick showcased exactly why England's bench is so impactful.

It is full of top players and quality, which has helped secure wins in the closing stages that were lost against the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

Considering Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will feel confident of sending a message next week.

If successful, the substitutes will likely 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)