A liberal sprinkling of south-seas flair among both teams livened up a chilly afternoon at Twickenham, with three tries by Fiji punctuating what was otherwise a predictable win for England in the second of their four autumn internationals.

The essential debates over how and why so many Pacific-Islander players re-qualify to represent other countries, amid the huge disparity in wealth between unions - no one generates as much cash each year as England’s – crystallised into an 80-minute battle between one team based entirely in the Aviva Premiership and another drawn from clubs dotted around Europe and the south Pacific.

The superiority held by England was manifested in five tries in the opening 26 minutes for the home side, as slick handling and a couple of short-range drives from line-outs put Jonathan Joseph, Elliot Daly, Semesa Rokoduguni and forwards Teimana Harrison and Joe Launchbury over the line.

Rokoduguni goes over for his first international try (Getty)

It was a first international try for the Fijian-born British Army soldier Rokoduguni, as well as for Daly of Wasps on the left wing, and the Northampton flanker Harrison, recalled after a chastening experience on tour in Australia last summer.

And the first two of the three successful conversions by Owen Farrell in that punishing opening period eased the Saracens fly-half - playing here in what is becoming his accustomed England position of inside centre - past 500 Test points on his 45th appearance for his country.

Thankfully for those in the capacity crowd wondering whether they were seeing a one-sided procession in return for their £60 adult tickets, Fiji enjoyed a mini-revival in the run-up to half-time, and just after it.

The mighty Nemani Nadolo – all 6ft 5ins and almost 20 stone of him – revived memories of another giant wing who rampaged around Twickenham more than once; this was a year and a day since the tragically untimely passing of Jonah Lomu.

England vs Fiji player ratings Show all 15 1 /15 England vs Fiji player ratings England vs Fiji player ratings Alex-Goode.jpg Age: 27

Club: Saracens

Caps: 19

Tries:> 0

Penalties:> 1

Points: 3 Getty England vs Fiji player ratings gsemesa-rokoduguni.jpg LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 18: Semesa Rokoduguni looks on during the England captain's run at Twickenham Stadium on November 18, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images) Getty England vs Fiji player ratings Jonathan-Joseph.jpg Jonathan Joseph scored four tries in last year’s Six Nations Getty England vs Fiji player ratings owen-farrell.jpg Farrell has flourished since moving to inside centre Getty England vs Fiji player ratings elliot-daly.jpg Elliot Daly impressed on his first start for England but shifts to the wing against Fiji Getty England vs Fiji player ratings george-ford.jpg Ford scored a try in Saturday's 37-21 victory over South Africa Getty England vs Fiji player ratings ben-youngs.jpg The scrum-half relieved the pressure for England on a number of occasions as his touch-finding box kicks got his side out of sticky situations. Looks increasingly the starting scrum-half, with Danny Care’s pace able to finish games. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings mako-vunipola.jpg Did the bulk of the carrying along with his brother the great effect and rarely went backwards. His scrummaging has come on over the last year, but while he held his own in the front-row it’s still an area of slight weakness for the Saracen. That said, there wasn’t much else to fault him on. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings dylan-hartley.jpg Reliable as ever at the lineout, though the return of Wood gave him plenty of options in the air. Not as prominent in the loose, and didn’t have too much to do defensively as South Africa lacked ideas beyond one-out rugby. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings dan-cole.jpg Penalised early on for coming in at the side, but made up for it with a turnover penalty of his own. A force in defence, and coped well with the Beast in the scrum. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings joe-launchbury.jpg Stepped into the shoes of the absent Maro Itoje, and flourished on his return to the fold. While Itoje does the prominent work, Launchbury did a lot of the hidden stuff that gave England the platform to attack. Strong work in the air at the lineout. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings courtney-lawes.jpg Led the side out on his 50th cap and was celebrating 36 minutes later. Alert enough to dive on the ball after Brown’s apparent knock-on that proved otherwise after a TMO review. Looked to take on a much smarter role than his usual ‘enforcer’ self. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings chris-robshaw.jpg Thudding hit on Paige won possession for his side in the first-half and set the tone for his own performance. Worked hard to rush out from the first marker role and cut-off any inside balls. Getty England vs Fiji player ratings gettyimages-624103222.jpg LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 18: Teimana Harrison runs with the ball during the England captain's run at Twickenham Stadium on November 18, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images) Getty Images England vs Fiji player ratings billy-vunipola.jpg Disappointed the crowd when he turned down an early chance to run at the Boks by calling mark, but soon announced his arrival with a barnstorming run through the middle. Another burst saw off Etzebeth as he left the field with a rattled head. Not his finest performance, but it was still one of the standout showings. Getty

Nadolo, who plays for Montpellier in France, had his big moment after Fiji fumbled an attacking line-out but gained a five-metre scrum when England carried back into their own in-goal.

An initial blast by Nadolo was bravely halted by England’s fly-half George Ford, but the play went to the right and back to the left again, where Nadolo, in space, brushed off Rokoduguni’s cover tackle as an officer worker might slip off his coat on arriving home.

Nadolo was also Fiji’s front-line goal-kicker but his ungainly conversion attempt slid wide, before Farrell’s quickly-taken penalty for a scrum collapse had England 34-5 up after 37 minutes.

There was time before the interval isotonics for Leone Nakarawa – the brilliantly rangy Fiji second row who was in his country’s gold-medal-winning sevens team at the Rio Olympics in August – to shrug off Ben Youngs and Rokoduguni for the islanders’ second try.

Three minutes into the second half an arcing run by Fiji full-back Metuisela Talebula gave him his 11th Test try, and pegged England back to 34-15.

England’s second Fijian-born novice, the Wasps back-rower Nathan Hughes, came on for Harrison soon afterwards, with an obstruction by the Tongan-descended prop Mako Vunipola having denied the New Zealand-born-and-raised captain Dylan Hartley in the meantime. Truly, this was a cosmopolitan occasion at the old stadium.

Goode falls under a tackle during the second half (Getty)

Farrell’s last act before being replaced by Ben Te’o was the conversion of Alex Goode’s try in the 50 th minute, then Joseph picked off a loosely looped pass from Josh Matavesi to score his second try and England’s seventh, converted by Ford.

England’s head coach Eddie Jones had resisted making wholesale changes after last weekend’s 37-21 win over South Africa, believing additional experimentation to be unnecessary or unwelcome with Argentina and Australia still to come here in the next fortnight.

The England bench was emptied, nevertheless, with a second cap for Harlequins’ tighthead prop Kyle Sinckler and a first for Bath lock Charlie Ewels set alongside the reassimilation of Exeter playmaker Henry Slade.

Now based around a pacy midfield trio of Ford, Te’o and Slade, England attempted to keep playing rugby that was both wide and controlled. It brought a second try apiece for Rokoduguni and Launchbury – but no England score in the final 10 minutes, which was a tribute to Fijian resolve.

England: A Goode; S Rokoduguni, J Joseph (rep H Slade, 66 mins), O Farrell (B Te’o 53), E Daly; G Ford, B Youngs (D Care 53); M Vunipola (J Marler 51), D Hartley (capt; J George 51), D Cole (K Sinckler 58), J Launchbury, C Lawes (C Ewels 66), C Robshaw, T Harrison (N Hughes 48), B Vunipola.

Tries: Joseph 2, Daly, Rokoduguni 2, Harrison, Launchbury 2, Goode; Conversions: Farrell 4, Ford; Penalty: Farrell.

Fiji: M Talebula; B Masivelu (K Murimurivalu 61), A Tikoirotuma, A Vulivuli, N Nadolo; J Matavesi, S Vularika (N Matawalu 41); C Ma’afu (P Ravai 6), S Koto Vuli (T Talemaitoga 52), M Saulo (L Atalifo 66), A Ratuniyarawa (N Soqeta 54), L Nakarawa, D Waqaniburotu (E Radrodro 74), P Yato, A Qera (capt; N Dawai 59).

Tries: Nadolo, Nakarawa, Talebula.

Referee: M Mitrea (Italy).