🔗 Share this article The English Team v Fiji – Fall International Rugby Overview Match Updates Match Background Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. 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. And it’s started raining. Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative with a decent start already under his belt. 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. 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. For 2025, insights have been gained, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings. England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous week, which given the class sprinkled throughout the Fiji squad could be be seen as hubris from Borthwick. But, while the islanders are no mugs by any measure, they often find it tough in encounters with England. 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; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.
Match Background Like the silver birches near my house at this time of year, England in the autumn are a mixed offering. 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. And it’s started raining. Steve Borthwick is determined to alter this narrative with a decent start already under his belt. 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. 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. For 2025, insights have been gained, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings. England has fielded a significantly altered lineup from the previous week, which given the class sprinkled throughout the Fiji squad could be be seen as hubris from Borthwick. But, while the islanders are no mugs by any measure, they often find it tough in encounters with England. 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; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.