The English Team vs the Fijian Squad – Autumn Nations Series Overview

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, prior to the unavoidable decline that leaves chaos in its wake which requires weeks of cleanup amid frustration. And now, precipitation has commenced.

Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative and it’s started OK for him. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series 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 regarding how the initial matches against New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa made the schedule overly challenging, 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 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. However, even though the Fijians are far from pushovers, they often find it tough in encounters with England. Their lone win in nine tests against today's rivals came during the 2023 World Cup warm-ups.

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 they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.