The English Team v the Fijian Squad – Autumn Nations Series Preview

Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place that you must spend weeks clearing up in a foul mood. And it’s started raining.

England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario and the beginning has been favorable for him. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series marks an improvement compared to last year, which included three poor losses and only a basic victory over Japan serving as the conclusion in the last week. Much was made amidst the post-series malaise that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. For 2025, insights have been gained, with the success against the Wallabies leading into the current match with Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.

England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous week, and considering the talent present in the Fijian team, this might appear overconfident from Borthwick. However, even though the Fijians are far from pushovers, they have historically faced challenges in this matchup. Only one victory in nine matches versus England occurred in the 2023 World Cup preparatory games.

England are also arguably the best team in the world at despatching teams they should not struggle against; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.