The English Team versus the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Overview
Game Coverage
Introduction
Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. 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.
Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative and it’s started OK for him. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series surpasses the results from 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, and a trend of unhappiness trailed each match result. For 2025, insights have been gained, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus Fiji providing a moment to solidify the optimistic atmosphere.
The English squad shows many changes compared to last week's selection, which, due to the quality in the Fiji roster, could be viewed as arrogance by the coach. But, while the islanders are no mugs by any measure, they have historically faced challenges in this matchup. A win in the 2023 World Cup warm up games their solitary victory in nine tests vs today’s opposition.
England is perhaps the top team globally when it comes to defeating sides they are expected to beat; for instance, they are the sole team never beaten by Italy in the Six Nations, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.
