England vs Fiji – Fall International Rugby 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. How lovely they can look due to the changes and natural developments, prior to the unavoidable decline that leaves chaos in its wake 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 it’s started OK for him. The opening win over Australia in this year’s November is already better than 2024, a period featuring three dismal defeats interrupted by a routine win against Japan as the full stop in the final 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, and a trend of unhappiness trailed each match result. This year, valuable lessons have been absorbed, with the success against the Wallabies leading into the current match with Fiji as a chance to consolidate the positive vibes.

England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous 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 are perennial strugglers in this fixture. 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.