England v the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Match Analysis

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. 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.

Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture with a decent start already under his belt. Their initial victory against Australia this November surpasses the results from 2024, which included three poor losses and only a basic victory over Japan acting as the final note in the closing week. Considerable discussion occurred during the post-series slump that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, with a momentum of misery accompanying each week’s result. This year, valuable lessons have been absorbed, with the success against the Wallabies leading into the current match with Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.

It’s a much changed England team from last week, which given the class sprinkled throughout the Fiji squad could be be seen as hubris from Borthwick. However, even though the Fijians are far from pushovers, they are perennial strugglers in this fixture. A win in the 2023 World Cup warm up games their solitary victory in nine tests vs today’s opposition.

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, with infrequent losses to second-tier teams.