England Secures 9th Consecutive 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
The English squad notched four tries after halftime to beat a resilient Fiji side in their second fall test match.
The victory continues Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine games and follows up their win over the Wallabies the previous weekend.
England opened the scoring through hooker Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with tries by Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz.
Fly-half Muntz failed to convert either try but kicked a penalty to take the Fijians further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.
Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then traded scores to spark an entertaining second half.
Replacements George and Henry Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, touched down to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.
These tries came either side of Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli dropping the ball when attempting to score.
England captain Maro Itoje, who also came off the bench, grabbed the final try.
Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand next Saturday in their toughest test on paper this autumn.
Fiji Begin Strongly to Challenge The English
Prior to this meeting, England had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most recently taking 30-24 in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.
That one defeat came two months prior the tournament in Europe and was a major turning point under Borthwick.
With the Pacific Islanders on a five-game streak – their equal best streak since 1999 – the game was always likely to be tight.
Following smooth attacking phases, back rower Cunningham-South gained valuable meters 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 clear in defence through huge first-half midfield hits, with full-back Smith, used as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.
But it was the vintage Fijian attacking flair that was the highlight in the opening half as offloads sliced through the English defense for Muntz to score.
The winger sharply finished a kick across the field by Smith to take England into the lead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a video review.
The English Impact Substitutes Shines Once More
England pulled away from Australia last Saturday in the final quarter through the impact of their replacements that contained six British and Irish Lions.
A significantly altered starting XV from the win over the Wallabies did grab the next try as Genge went over following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles against the Italians in March.
Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was completed by Ikanivere, Borthwick introduced several of his bench on the 54-minute mark – including Lions players Pollock and Tom Curry.
With the match still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when stretching for the tryline to negate replacement George's try.
Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, who scored versus Australia, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain breathing room between the sides.
It topped off another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who received consecutive man of the match honors.
Arundell's pace to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so impactful.
It is full of stars and talent, which has aided in victories in the final quarter that were lost versus Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.
Considering the Scottish side ran New Zealand close, the English team will fancy their chances of making a big statement this weekend.
If successful, the bench will likely play another key factor.
Line-ups
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
Refereeing Team
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
