The English Team v Fiji – Fall International Rugby Preview

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, the English side during fall presents a varied display. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, prior to the unavoidable decline that leaves chaos in its wake which requires weeks of cleanup amid frustration. Plus, the rain has begun to fall.

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 marks an improvement compared to last year, which included three poor losses and only a basic victory over Japan as the full stop in the final 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, with a momentum of misery accompanying each week’s result. In 2025 lessons have been learned, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.

It’s a much changed England team from last week, and considering the talent present in the Fijian team, this might appear overconfident 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.

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, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.