England versus the Fijian Squad – Autumn Nations Series Preview

Much like the silver birches in my neighborhood in autumn, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. They often appear impressive because of shifts and organic growth, prior to the unavoidable decline that leaves chaos in its wake that you must spend weeks clearing up in a foul mood. And now, precipitation has commenced.

England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario with a decent start already under his belt. Their initial victory against Australia this November is already better than 2024, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over Japan acting as the final note in the closing 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, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. 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.

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 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; they hold the distinction of being unbeaten against Italy in the Six Nations, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.