The English Team Claims 9th Consecutive Victory Over Physical 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
The English squad notched four tries after halftime to overcome a resilient Fiji side in their latest fall test match.
This win lengthens Steve Borthwick's side's winning run to nine games and supports their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.
England opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before the visitors responded with scores by Ikanivere and Muntz.
Number ten Muntz missed both conversions but nailed a penalty goal to take the Fijians further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.
Prop Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to ignite an thrilling second half.
Replacements Jamie George and Arundell, who showed his scintillating pace, finished off tries to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.
Those scores came around Fiji scrum-half Simi Kuruvoli dropping the ball when attempting to score.
England captain Maro Itoje, who also came off the bench, scored the final try.
The English team now face the All Blacks next Saturday in their toughest test on paper this fall.
Fiji Begin Strongly to Challenge England
Before this meeting, England had claimed victory in eight of their 9 games with the Fijian side – most recently taking 30-24 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 the head coach.
With Fiji on a five-match winning run – their equal best streak since the late nineties – the game was always likely to be tight.
After slick phase play, number eight Chandler Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker barged over for the opening score from short distance, with the Fijian's score off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.
Nicknamed the Flying Fijians, that was apparent in defence through huge opening period tackles in the center, with full-back Marcus Smith, used as a second playmaker, in particular targeted.
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 touch down.
Feyi-Waboso expertly collected a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take England ahead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a bunker review.
England's Star Bench Delivers Again
The English team broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the power of their bench that included multiple Lions tourists.
A significantly altered starting XV from the victory over the Australians did score the next try as the prop went over following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after suffering his Achilles tendon versus the Italians in spring.
Nonetheless, after a clever line-out move was finished by the Fijian, the coach introduced several of his substitutes on the 54th minute – featuring Lions players Henry Pollock and Tom Curry.
With the game still in the balance, Fijian number nine Kuruvoli lost control of the ball when reaching for the goal line to negate substitute George's try.
Flanker Earl, a try-scorer versus the Wallabies, produced a stunning try-saving tackle to maintain a narrow lead between the teams.
It capped another all-round impressive display by the flanker, who picked up back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.
The substitute's speed to chase down a kick through demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.
It is full of top players and quality, which has aided in victories in the final quarter that were squandered against the Wallabies and New Zealand the previous fall.
Given Scotland pushed the All Blacks hard, Borthwick's side will fancy their chances of making a big statement this weekend.
Should they win, the bench will probably 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
Match Officials
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
