Eleven-try England thrash sorry Fiji to end losing run
Henry Pollock scores a hat-trick as England run out convincing winners against a Fiji side reduced to 14 players for the second half in Liverpool.
Nations Championship - round two
Try: Ikanivere, Pen: Muntz
Tries: M Smith, George, Pepper, Janse van Rensburg, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso, Pollock (3), Slade, Caluori Cons: F Smith (9)
Replacement Henry Pollock scored a second-half hat-trick as England cruised to victory and ended a five-Test losing streak against an ill-disciplined and disjointed Fiji in Liverpool.
Playing against 14 men for half the match after scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli was shown a straight red for a kick out at Ellis Genge, England raced away to their largest ever win over Fiji.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's acrobatic finish down the left wing and Pollock's treble, all celebrated in style, brought loud cheers from the Hill Dickinson Stadium's 50,209-strong crowd after the break.
Elsewhere Bristol's South African-born centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Saracens' teenage wing sensation Noah Caluori made try-scoring Test debuts from the bench.
England were as comprehensive winners as the scoreline suggested, but the value of the victory has to be assessed in the context of a rabble of a performance from Fiji.
The Pacific Islanders famously beat England at Twickenham in August 2023, and came close to doing so again when the teams met in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals a few weeks later.
When they met in the autumn, in the midst of an England winning streak, Fiji had been within three points on the hour mark, before fading to a 38-18 loss.
This version however, never looked like having the consistency and cohesion to condemn England to a sixth successive Test defeat – a run of form which would have been their worst in 20 years.
Pollock's show-stopping treble makes his case to start
Rugby Union Weekly: Pollock hat-trick helps England end losing run
England take advantage of poor defence and fast track
After defeat by South Africa last weekend, England emerged with impetus and intent, apparently determined to chance their arm.
Fin Smith had already attempted a crossfield kick to Northampton team-mate Tommy Freeman from an early penalty, only to be called back by referee Hollie Davidson for going too quickly.
Fortune favoured the England fly-half's brave play a few minutes later.
Once again Smith aimed a punt at Freeman. It bounced over the wing's head and seemed to be heading for touch, only to bounce off the corner flag and back in-field to allow Marcus Smith to pounce for the opening try.
Last weekend, South Africa's powerful ground game had slowed England's ruck speed, pouring sludge in their attacking gears.
Fiji's back row, containing the 30-plus trio of Peceli Yato, Lekima Tagitagivalu and Levani Botia, could not make such a great nuisance of themselves.
With the Pacific Islanders' scrum disintegrating and their defence short of shape and speed, England had a chance to show the attacking ambition that they have talked about so often and delivered so rarely this year.
Their second try came via the route Wales had followed to a 39-24 victory last weekend, with Feyi-Waboso, Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade adding their weight to a driving maul that captain Jamie George was at the bottom of.
England looked to the open spaces, rather than close quarters, to add to their 14-3 lead.
Ben Earl and Freeman were both close to claiming clever kicks ahead with the tryline close at hand, with Jack van Poortvliet bringing some of the zip that was sorely absent in Johannesburg.
Guy Pepper bullocked through to a third try in the immediate aftermath of Fiji losing Botia to a yellow card, with Janse van Rensburg hitting an angle hard and low to score from close range at the end of the powerplay.
Atkinson stretched the lead out to 35-3, going in after some blurring footwork from Marcus Smith and a lovely offload off the floor from Van Poortvliet.
The contest was all but over. Four minutes later, it certainly was.
In the final phases of the first half, Bristol's Kalaveti Ravouvou appeared to have wormed over for a score that Fiji could take some solace from at the break.
However, the television match official had spotted Kuruvoli's frustrated kick out at Genge while attempting to regain his feet after a tackle.
Referee Davidson had only one imperfect angle on the incident, but showed Kuruvoli a straight red card for a deliberate, violent act.
Unlike the 20-minute version which leaves a team down on numbers only temporarily, Fiji had to play with 14 men for the remainder of the game.
They struck first in the second half – captain Tevita Ikanivere trundling over – but, from then, the game slipped well below usual Test intensity.
