The English Team v the Fijian Squad – Fall International Rugby Match Analysis
Match Updates
Introduction
Similar to the silver birches around my home during this season, England's autumn performances show a blend of highs and lows. 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 with a decent start already under his belt. Their initial victory against Australia this November marks an improvement compared to last year, a period featuring three dismal defeats interrupted by a routine win against 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 win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji offering an opportunity to reinforce the good feelings.
The English squad shows many changes compared to last week's selection, which, due to the quality in the Fiji roster, could be viewed as arrogance by the coach. Yet, despite the island nation's undeniable skill, they are perennial strugglers in this fixture. A win in the 2023 World Cup warm up games their solitary victory in nine tests vs today’s opposition.
England are also arguably the best team in the world at despatching teams they should not struggle against; for instance, they are the sole team never beaten by Italy in the Six Nations, and they seldom fall to lower-tier nations.
