England vs the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Preview

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. Their appeal stems from transformations and natural progress, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place which requires weeks of cleanup amid frustration. And now, precipitation has commenced.

England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario and it’s started OK for him. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series marks an improvement compared to last year, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over Japan as the full stop in the final week. There was extensive talk following the series downturn regarding how the initial matches against New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa made the schedule overly challenging, with a momentum of misery accompanying each week’s result. This year, valuable lessons have been absorbed, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus Fiji as a chance to consolidate the positive vibes.

England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous 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 are perennial strugglers in this fixture. 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; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, with infrequent losses to second-tier teams.