England versus the Fijian Squad – Autumn Nations Series Preview
Game Coverage
Match Background
Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. They often appear impressive because of shifts and organic growth, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place demanding extensive tidying efforts while feeling irritable. And it’s started raining.
England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario with a decent start already under his belt. 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 as the full stop in the final week. Considerable discussion occurred during the post-series slump that the opening trio of NZ, Australia and Boks meant the fixtures were front loaded to a fault, and a trend of unhappiness trailed each match result. This year, valuable lessons have been absorbed, 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. But, while the islanders are no mugs by any measure, they are perennial strugglers in this fixture. Their lone win in nine tests against today's rivals came during the 2023 World Cup warm-ups.
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.
