Luke Cowan-Dickie, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ellis Genge score for England before replacements Jamie George, Henry Arundell, Maro Itoje also score to secure win from behind vs Fiji at Twickenham; Fiji led by six in first half and had try ruled out to make Test one-point game with 18 to play
By Michael Cantillon at Twickenham
Last Updated: 08/11/25 8:04pm
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was among the try scorers as England kept their heads to beat Fiji on Saturday
England survived a scare against Fiji to come from behind and keep their noses in front before a late flourish to secure a 38-18 Autumn Nations Series victory.
Fiji led by six points in the first half and scored three tries through hooker Tevita Ikanivere (two) and fly-half Caleb Muntz, while also having a second-half try from scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli ruled out – a score which would have brought things to a one-point game inside the final quarter.
England kept their heads to secure the win, though, and finished with six tries through hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, prop Ellis Genge, and replacements Jamie George, Henry Arundell and Maro Itoje.
England – Tries: Cowan-Dickie (6), Feyi-Waboso (38), Ellis Genge (49), Jamie George (60), Henry Arundell (69), Maro Itoje (75). Cons: F Smith (7, 39, 50, 75).
Fiji – Tries: Ikanivere (10, 52), Muntz (22). Pens: Muntz (29).
Fiji were reduced to 14 players twice throughout the contest as wing Selestino Ravutaumada and centre Josua Tuisova were sin-binned – moments during which England scored crucial points which ultimately set them up for victory.
England enjoyed the perfect start to the contest when Cowan-Dickie showed power to dive over with lock Alex Coles on his shoulder in the sixth minute.
England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie displayed his power to score the opening try
Fin Smith converted, but Fiji hit back via their very first attack as Ikanivere finished off a rampant rolling maul drive to score, punishing Feyi-Waboso for the concession of a blatant penalty for obstruction.
Fiji hooker Tevita Ikanivere scored their first try in the 10th minute via a dominant driving maul
Muntz missed the conversion to leave Fiji behind, but the visitors did move into the lead in the 22nd minute through wonderful, trademark attack finished by Muntz.
Ravutaumada did the initial damage down the left to take on Tommy Freeman and beat him, offloading inside for impressive flanker Kitione Salawa, who then offloaded to scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli.
Kuruvoli then chipped ahead, was taken out by Marcus Smith, but Muntz was on hand to race onto the ball and slide over for a wonderful score.
Caleb Muntz finished a wonderful team move for Fiji’s second try to lead
The fly-half poorly missed the conversion again, but on the half hour did strike over a penalty from in front of the sticks to stretch the Fiji lead to six points at 13-7.
The opening period then took a turn for the visitors, however, when Ravutaumada was sin-binned for taking Feyi-Waboso out in the air.
With time running out before half-time, it was Feyi-Waboso who struck for the lead when Fin Smith found the wing on penalty advantage with a kick across the pitch, which the former took and stepped inside the finish – Smith’s conversion leaving things 14-13 at the break.
Feyi-Waboso scored late in the first half to put England back in front
The home side were first to strike in the second half too when captain Genge dived for the line after a sensational break from the returning Ollie Lawrence, stepping past Muntz and accelerating right up to the try-line.
Ellis Genge scored early into the second half for England, for Fiji kept responding
Within four minutes Fiji narrowed the gap back to three points when Ikanivere finished an inventive lineout move down the short side which caught England – Muntz missed his third conversion, though, to see critical points go to waste.
Tuisova was sent to the bin on the hour mark as referee Paul Williams penalised Fiji for repeat penalties, and England scored almost immediately as George kept composure within a maul to ground on the line.
With the gap eight points, Fiji then appeared to roar back within two minutes as Kuruvoli finished another stunning move involving offloading – full-back Salesi Rayasi to the fore this time, but the score was chalked off when the TMO requested a review to spot a small knock-on on the grass before grounding.
What felt like rough justice for the visitors was then compounded when Arundell displayed his lightning pace to reach a Marcus Smith kick ahead having only just come onto the pitch for a try with 11 minutes to play.
Replacement wing Henry Arundell displayed his electric pace to seal the game
England completed the scoring late on when Itoje – emerging as a replacement for England for the first time since November 2017 – scored as Fiji tired in the closing stages.
Earl: One of toughest Tests I’ve ever played
Player of the match Ben Earl told TNT:
“It was one of the hardest games of rugby I have had to play. They have world-class players across the pitch and credit to our boys for getting the win.
“I think we are trying to grow our game week on week. You can see we will continue to get better.
“Each opposition brings different opportunities. It is called a Test match for a reason and they tested us with their gameplan. We have to give the respect to Fiji, they brought a plan that troubled us in the first half but the bench were fantastic and everyone from one to 23 was great.”
England centre Ollie Lawrence told TNT:
“Everything that happened in the Six Nations was tough, coming back was hard but put it into perspective and the journey it had been.
“You’re always going to have obstacles in life, my mindset was to attack it and to make sure I could get back here for the autumn games.
“I’m nowhere near the finished product but I made a promise to myself to make sure I got better each day, so that I could be on this field with the lads today.
“It’s a special day for me. Sometimes you can take for granted being in the jersey and it’s important to remember it’s never yours, you’re only borrowing it. I was really grateful to be back here to see the stadium packed and to be back out there with the boys – I can’t really put it into words.”
What’s next?
England next host New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham next Saturday November 15 at 3.10pm.
For Fiji, they travel to face France next week in Bordeaux also on Saturday November 15 at 8.10pm (GMT).
