England Claims Ninth Consecutive Win 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 notched 4 second-half tries to beat a resilient Fijian team in their latest fall test match.

The victory extends the English team's winning run to nine matches and backs up their win over Australia the previous weekend.

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

Number ten the Fijian playmaker failed to convert either try but nailed a penalty goal to take the visitors further clear before Feyi-Waboso crossed.

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

Substitutes George and Henry Arundell, who displayed his blistering speed, finished off tries to take the English side into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came either side of Fiji scrum-half Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when going for the tryline.

Skipper Itoje, who also came off the bench, secured the last touchdown.

Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test on paper this fall.

Before this meeting, England had won 8 of their 9 games with Fiji – most recently taking a close contest in the quarter-finals of the last global tournament.

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

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

Following slick phase play, number eight Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker barged over for the first try from close range, with the Fijian's score off the back of a maul adding a swift reply.

Nicknamed the flying Fijians, that was clear in defense through powerful first-half midfield hits, with full-back Smith, deployed as a second playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the first forty as offloads sliced through the English defense for the fly-half to score.

The winger sharply finished a kick across the field by Smith to take England into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada, who was awarded a sin-binning following a video review.

England pulled away from Australia the previous weekend in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that included multiple Lions tourists.

A significantly altered starting lineup from the victory over the Wallabies did score the following touchdown as the prop crossed following a powerful run by Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after tearing his Achilles against the Italians in March.

Nonetheless, after a smart line-out move was completed by Ikanivere, the coach unloaded five of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Curry.

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

Flanker Ben Earl, a try-scorer against Australia, produced a spectacular game-saving stop to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.

It topped off another all-round impressive performance by Earl, who received back-to-back man of the match honors.

The substitute's speed to chase down a kick through demonstrated exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is packed with top players and talent, which has aided in victories in the closing stages that were squandered versus Australia and the All Blacks the previous fall.

Given the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will feel confident of sending a message this weekend.

If successful, the substitutes will likely 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)