The English Team versus the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Overview
Game Coverage
Preamble
Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, the English side during fall presents a varied display. 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.
England's coach Steve Borthwick aims to transform this scenario and it’s started OK for him. Their initial victory against Australia this November surpasses the results from 2024, which included three poor losses and only a basic victory over Japan serving as the conclusion in the last week. Much was made amidst the post-series malaise that facing NZ, Australia, and Springboks first created an excessively tough start, with a momentum of misery accompanying each week’s result. For 2025, insights have been gained, 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. 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 remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.
