Henry Arundell lifts England to hard-fought win over Fiji

Henry Arundell produced a stunning finish to propel England to a 38-18 victory over Fiji at Allianz Stadium that keeps alive their pursuit of an unbeaten autumn.

The Islanders are the lowest-ranked opposition to visit Twickenham this month but they presented a far greater threat than Australia seven days earlier as they chased a repeat of their seismic 2023 upset at the same venue.

Their ability to strike from anywhere on the field meant England could not breathe easy until the 69th minute when Arundell showed his searing pace after being presented with a half-chance by Marcus Smith’s grubber.

Steve Borthwick introduced his ‘bomb squad’ of five replacement forwards in the 54th minute and while they made a difference, it was the athleticism of Arundell that sealed Fiji’s fate.

The Bath wing was making his first appearance since the 2023 World Cup, his time at French club Racing 92 having made him unavailable for selection, and his brief cameo against Fiji underlined his star quality.

England lost their way at times yet were able to close out a ninth successive victory, their best run since the early days of the Eddie Jones era when they amassed a world record-equalling 18 successive wins.

Fiji were targeting a national record sixth consecutive triumph and in an evenly-matched first half they caused the hosts problems across the field.

Luke Cowan-Dickie’s seventh-minute try capped off an impressive start by England, rewarding their accurate build-up play, but they soon came unstuck.

Fiji’s set-piece was the unexpected source of their first try as they mauled their way over with hooker Tevita Ikanivere providing the finishing touch as the home defence melted away.

But Caleb Muntz’s 22nd-minute try was the Islanders at their exhilarating best as Josua Tuisova made yards before Simione Kuruvoli chipped ahead for Muntz to gather and score with an outstretched hand.

England’s troubles were evident in a hesitant counter-attack by Marcus Smith, whose play lacked conviction, that ended in a moment of confusion between Ollie Lawrence and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Muntz kicked a penalty to build a 13-7 lead but the tide turned quickly, first when wing Selesitino Ravutaumada was yellow-carded for taking Feyi-Waboso out in the air and then when Fin Smith kicked to space for the Exeter star to gather and score.

England’s beautifully-worked try nudged them back in front and after the second half had opened with a chaotic end-to-end spell they struck again through Ellis Genge, profiting after Lawrence had played the starring role in a thrilling counter-attack.

Ikanivere hit back for Fiji, scampering down the blindside from a line-out, but they immediately came under heavy pressure that saw Tuisova sent to the sin-bin for offside.

England’s maul was taking charge with Jamie George going over and once they had survived the scare of Kuruvoli losing control of the ball as he slid over the line, they delivered the moment of the match when Arundell beat two blue shirts to Marcus Smith’s kick to score.

Maro Itoje went over to give the final score a lopsided appearance Fiji did not deserve.