England versus the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Match Analysis
Match Updates
Match Background
Much like the silver birches in my neighborhood in autumn, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, before the inevitable atrophying dumps of loads of mess all over the place which requires weeks of cleanup amid frustration. And it’s started raining.
England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario with a decent start already under his belt. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series is already better than 2024, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over Japan acting as the final note in the closing week. There was extensive talk following the series downturn 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. In 2025 lessons have been learned, as the victory over Australia is now followed by today's game versus Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.
The English squad shows many changes compared to last week's selection, and considering the talent present in the Fijian team, this might appear overconfident from Borthwick. However, even though the Fijians are far from pushovers, they are perennial strugglers in this fixture. Only one victory in nine matches versus England occurred in the 2023 World Cup preparatory games.
England are also arguably the best team in the world at despatching teams they should not struggle against; for instance, they are the sole team never beaten by Italy in the Six Nations, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.
