The English Team v Fiji – Fall International Rugby Match Analysis

Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. They often appear impressive because of shifts and organic growth, prior to the unavoidable decline that leaves chaos in its wake that you must spend weeks clearing up in a foul mood. And it’s started raining.

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 acting as the final note in the closing week. Considerable discussion occurred during the post-series slump that the opening trio of NZ, Australia and Boks meant the fixtures were front loaded to a fault, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. 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.

The English squad shows many changes compared to last week's selection, 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. 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 remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.