England v Fiji – Fall International Rugby Overview
Live Feed
Preamble
Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, the English side during fall presents a varied display. Their appeal stems from transformations and natural progress, prior to the unavoidable decline that leaves chaos in its wake demanding extensive tidying efforts while feeling irritable. Plus, the rain has begun to fall.
Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture 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 serving as the conclusion in the last week. There was extensive talk following the series downturn 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. In 2025 lessons have been learned, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus Fiji providing a moment to solidify the optimistic atmosphere.
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. 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, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.
