The English Team vs the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Overview
Live Feed
Introduction
Much like the silver birches in my neighborhood in autumn, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. They often appear impressive because of shifts and organic growth, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place which requires weeks of cleanup amid frustration. Plus, the rain has begun to fall.
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, which included three poor losses and only a basic victory over Japan as the full stop in the final week. Much was made amidst the post-series malaise that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, 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 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 are also arguably the best team in the world at despatching teams they should not struggle against; they hold the distinction of being unbeaten against Italy in the Six Nations, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.
