Fiji defeated England for the first time in their history with a sensational 30-22 win at Twickenham in Round 4 of the Summer Nations Series.
In testing conditions, England led 8-3 at half-time thanks to Jonny May’s try, before Fiji made a serious statement in their final match before the Rugby World Cup.
Captain Waisea Nayacalevu and winger Vinaya Habosi scored tries in the first 10 minutes of the second-half to put Fiji ahead and the impeccable boot of Caleb Muntz saw their lead continue to tick over.
Replacements Marcus Smith and Joe Marchant both scored for England to reduce the deficit to just a point but the Flying Fijians lived up to their name and Simione Kuruvoli scored a third try to put them out of reach.
England began on the front foot and quickly took the lead through the boot of George Ford, making the most of an early moment of Fijian ill-discipline.
May then crossed to end England’s six hour try-scoring drought in the backs after a fizzed pass over the top from Ford, but the fly-half was unable to add the extras from the touchline conversion.
Thunder and lightning then halted either side’s momentum, with the ball becoming increasingly slippery but Muntz did get the away side onto the scoreboard with a penalty.
That proved to be the only other points of the first half, although Nayacalevu had a try ruled out for a forward pass after 30 minutes, with Selestino Ravutaumada wreaking havoc throughout the half but not quite managing to keep his pass flat.
There was no mistake early in the second half though as the same two combined again, with Ravutaumada finding his centre, who dived over to level the scores.
The perfect boot of Muntz then put Fiji into a 10-8 lead, a position they did not look back from.
Seven minutes later and Habosi scored a memorable Twickenham try, breaking clear and having the pace to go all the way from the halfway line and dive over, extending their lead to 17-8 after Muntz’s conversion.
A penalty from the Fijian fly-half extended the lead further but Smith immediately clawed England back into the contest with almost his first touch, pouncing on the loose ball after a Ford chip over the top and sliding over.
Fiji did not panic though and Muntz added yet another penalty to restore a two-score cushion with less than 20 minutes on the clock.
Marchant then received the ball on the right wing and found his way into the corner, scoring his first Test try since 2019 and with a perfect Ford conversion from the corner, England trailed by just one point with 12 minutes on the clock.
But it was Ravutaumada again who produced magic for Fiji, holding off four tacklers five metres from the line, before offloading to replacement scrum-half Kuruvoli who dived over to the delight of the on-looking Fiji supporters.
England broke into the Fiji 22 with the clock in the red but their defence once again held firm and they celebrated an historic triumph.
