The English Team versus Fiji – Autumn Nations Series Match Analysis

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, 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. Plus, the rain has begun to fall.

Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative and it’s started OK for him. Their initial victory against Australia this November is already better than 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 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, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.

It’s a much changed England team from last week, which, due to the quality in the Fiji roster, could be viewed as arrogance by the coach. However, even though the Fijians are far from pushovers, 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.

England is perhaps the top team globally when it comes to defeating sides they are expected to beat; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.