Late surge sees England overcome ill-disciplined Fijians
MATCH REPORT: England scored four second-half tries to overcome a spirited but ill-disciplined Fijian side 38-18 at Twickenham after a tightly contested first half.
The hosts held a narrow 14-13 lead at half-time thanks to a late try by Immanuel Feyi-Waboso after Fijian winger Selestino Ravutaumada was yellow-carded following an aerial contest.
Luke Cowan-Dickie opened the scoring for England from close range after six minutes, but Tevita Ikanivere hit back for Fiji, finishing off a driving maul.
Caleb Muntz added a penalty to edge the visitors ahead and it looked like they would take the lead into the break, but Ravutaumada’s yellow card gave England a chance, and the hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage late in the half through an Immanuel Feyi-Waboso try in the corner after he collected a cross-kick.
The second half began with Fiji showing plenty of intent, but it was the hosts who got on the scoreboard first as Ellis Genge muscled over from close range to restore England’s lead. Fiji hit back when Ikanivere crossed for his second try off a well-worked line-out move.
But the islanders’ discipline continued to unravel, with Josua Tuisova sent to the sin bin after repeated infringements inside their 22m area.
England took full advantage, with captain Jamie George extending their lead from a driving maul. Minutes later, Henry Arundell chased down a kick from Marcus Smith to score, followed shortly after by Maro Itoje crashing over from short range to seal the result.
The scorers:
England:
Tries: Cowan-Dickie, Feyi-Waboso, Genge, George, Arundell, Itoje
Cons: Smith 4
Fiji:
Tries: Ikanivere 2, Muntz
Pen: Muntz
Yellow cards: Selestino Ravutaumada (Fiji, 35′ – illegal aerial contest); Josua Tuisova (Fiji 59′ – repeated infringements)
Teams:
England: 15 Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge (co-captain)
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Maro Itoje (co-captain), 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Henry Arundell
Fiji: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Selestino Ravutaumada, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo; 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Simi Kuruvoli, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Elia Canakaivata, 6 Kitione Salawa, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Isoa Nasilasila; 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Hereiti Hetet, 18 Samuela Tawake, 19 Mesake Vocevoce, 20 Motikai Murray, 21 Sam Wye, 22 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 23 Sireli Maqala
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
