England v Fiji – 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, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place demanding extensive tidying efforts while feeling irritable. And now, precipitation has commenced.

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 surpasses the results from 2024, which included three poor losses and only a basic victory over Japan acting as the final note in the closing week. Considerable discussion occurred during the post-series slump regarding how the initial matches against New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa made the schedule overly challenging, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. For 2025, insights have been gained, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.

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. But, while the islanders are no mugs by any measure, they often find it tough in encounters with England. Only one victory in nine matches versus England occurred in the 2023 World Cup preparatory games.

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.