England v the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Preview

Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. Their appeal stems from transformations and natural progress, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place that you must spend weeks clearing up in a foul mood. And now, precipitation has commenced.

England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario and the beginning has been favorable for him. The opening win over Australia in this year’s November marks an improvement compared to last year, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over Japan as the full stop in the final week. There was extensive talk following the series downturn that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, and a trend of unhappiness trailed each match result. For 2025, insights have been gained, with the success against the Wallabies leading into the current match with Fiji as a chance to consolidate the positive vibes.

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 have historically faced challenges in this matchup. Their lone win in nine tests against today's rivals came during the 2023 World Cup warm-ups.

The English side is widely regarded as the most efficient in dispatching opponents they ought to overcome easily; for instance, they are the sole team never beaten by Italy in the Six Nations, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.