England vs Fiji – Autumn Nations Series Preview

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, 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.

Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture and the beginning has been favorable for him. The opening win over Australia in this year’s November surpasses the results from 2024, a period featuring three dismal defeats interrupted by a routine win against Japan acting as the final note in the closing 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, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. In 2025 lessons have been learned, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji providing a moment to solidify the optimistic atmosphere.

England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous week, which given the class sprinkled throughout the Fiji squad could be be seen as hubris from Borthwick. Yet, despite the island nation's undeniable skill, 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; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.