England versus Fiji – Autumn Nations Series Preview

Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. 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. And now, precipitation has commenced.

Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture with a decent start already under his belt. The opening win over Australia in this year’s November is already better than 2024, a period featuring three dismal defeats interrupted by a routine win against Japan as the full stop in the final 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. This year, valuable lessons have been absorbed, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji as a chance to consolidate the positive vibes.

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 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.

The English side is widely regarded as the most efficient in dispatching opponents they ought to overcome easily; for instance, they are the sole team never beaten by Italy in the Six Nations, with infrequent losses to second-tier teams.