Rugby-England finish strong again to overwhelm Fiji 38-18

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON (Reuters) -England withstood a testing physical assault from a fired-up Fiji before their Bomb Squad again helped them take control to secure a 38-18 victory at Twickenham on Saturday, their ninth successive win, and set up next week's New Zealand clash nicely.

England led 14-13 at halftime and 21-18 after an hour before their high-quality bench turned the game, just as it had in last week's win over Australia.

"It was one of the hardest games of rugby I have had to play. They have world-class players across the pitch," said flanker Ben Earl after being named man of the match for the second week in a row.

"We have to give the respect to Fiji, they brought a plan that troubled us in the first half but I think our bench was brilliant."

England were electric from the kick off and relentlessly quick rucks and sharp handling through a series of phases sent hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie over for the opening try after five minutes.

Fiji hit back almost immediately, however, as England failed to deal with a rolling maul and Tevita Ikanivere was almost untouched as he barrelled over.

Bulldozing centres Kalaveti Ravouvou and Josua Tuisova were proving a midfield menace and Fiji cut loose down the left before Caleb Muntz seized on Simione Kuruvoli’s kick to score their second try for a 10-7 lead.

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England worked their way back into the game and gained an advantage when Selestino Ravutaumada was yellow-carded for a reckless mid-air challenge on Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

A minute later the winger strolled into the space where Ravutaumada should have been to catch a Fin Smith kick for England’s second try, which Smith converted for a 14-13 halftime lead.

Two years ago a half-full Twickenham crowd jeered an insipid England as they lost to Fiji for the first time, but there is far more of a feel-good factor around the team at the moment and an appreciation of the attacking strides they are making under coach Steve Borthwick.

That confidence proved to be well-placed as England gradually took control, though it took them a while in the face of ferocious hits from the huge Fiji players.

Centre Ollie Lawrence, making his first England appearance since March, made a fantastic break and though he was brought down just short, captain Ellis Genge was on hand to scoop up the ball and stretch over.

Spirited Fiji struck straight back as Ikanivere scored his second after a clever lineout move and they had another scored ruled out when TV replays showed Kuruvoli had lost possession as he slid over the line.

After 53 minutes Borthwick sent on his Bomb Squad with five replacement forwards entering the fray and it soon paid dividends as new hooker Jamie George got the fourth try.

It was a back replacement, however, who got the next score as, minutes after coming on for his first appearance since the 2023 World Cup, winger Henry Arundell showed his electric pace to chase down a Marcus Smith kick.

Maro Itoje, appearing off the bench for the first time in eight years, then dived over a pile of bodies NFL-style for a rare try.

Having beaten Australia and Fiji, England take on New Zealand in the third leg of their Grand Slam tour after beating Scotland earlier. Fiji play France next weekend.

(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ed Osmond)