England versus the Fijian Squad – Autumn Nations Series Preview

Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, the English side during fall presents a varied display. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, ahead of the certain deterioration that results in widespread disarray demanding extensive tidying efforts while feeling irritable. And it’s started raining.

Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture and it’s started OK for him. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series is already better than 2024, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over 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, with a momentum of misery accompanying each week’s result. In 2025 lessons have been learned, with the success against the Wallabies leading into the current match with Fiji providing a moment to solidify the optimistic atmosphere.

It’s a much changed England team from last week, which given the class sprinkled throughout the Fiji squad could be be seen as hubris 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 hold the distinction of being unbeaten against Italy in the Six Nations, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.