The English Team v the Fijian Squad – Autumn Nations Series Overview
Match Updates
Preamble
Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, the English side during fall presents a varied display. They often appear impressive because of shifts and organic growth, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place that you must spend weeks clearing up in a foul mood. Plus, the rain has begun to fall.
Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative with a decent start already under his belt. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series surpasses the results from 2024, a period featuring three dismal defeats interrupted by a routine win against Japan acting as the final note in the closing week. Much was made amidst the post-series malaise that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, and a trend of unhappiness trailed each match result. In 2025 lessons have been learned, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.
England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous week, which, due to the quality in the Fiji roster, could be viewed as arrogance by the coach. However, even though the Fijians are far from pushovers, they often find it tough in encounters with England. Their lone win in nine tests against today's rivals came during the 2023 World Cup warm-ups.
England are also arguably the best team in the world at despatching teams they should not struggle against; they hold the distinction of being unbeaten against Italy in the Six Nations, with infrequent losses to second-tier teams.
