The English Team versus the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Preview

Much like the silver birches in my neighborhood in autumn, the English side during fall presents a varied display. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place demanding extensive tidying efforts while feeling irritable. And now, precipitation has commenced.

Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative and the beginning has been favorable for him. The opening win over Australia in this year’s November surpasses the results from 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 facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. In 2025 lessons have been learned, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus 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. 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; for instance, they are the sole team never beaten by Italy in the Six Nations, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.