The English Team v Fiji – Autumn Nations Series Match Analysis

Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, 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 now, precipitation has commenced.

Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture with a decent start already under his belt. The first triumph over the Wallabies in the current autumn series marks an improvement compared to last year, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over Japan as the full stop in the final week. There was extensive talk following the series downturn that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, where a wave of disappointment followed every weekly outcome. 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. Yet, despite the island nation's undeniable skill, they have historically faced challenges in this matchup. A win in the 2023 World Cup warm up games their solitary victory in nine tests vs today’s opposition.

England is perhaps the top team globally when it comes to defeating sides they are expected to beat; they hold the distinction of being unbeaten against Italy in the Six Nations, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.