Key events
3 mins. The catch and drive is executed by England, but the Fiji forwards do a great job of holding it still and they tying the ball up to win a turnover when it refuses to emerge from the melee.
2 mins. England are straight on the attack on the Fiji 10m line and some clever running in midfield forces a tackle off the ball from the defence. Fin Smith sends it to touch in the 22.
Kick Off!
Fin Smith starts us off by clipping the ball deep into Fiji territory
The anthems have been belted out and now Fiji form up to perform the cibi, their pre-match challenge. England line up to receive it in the usual way.
The lights are dimmed, the EDM is being pumped through the tannoy and the flames are firing at pitchside. This is the scene the welcomes the teams to field.
Have a read while you wait.
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Teams
England:
Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Heyes; Alex Coles, Ollie Chessum; Guy Pepper, Ben Earl, Chandler Cunningham-South.
Replacements: Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Maro Itoje, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Henry Arundell.
Fiji:
Salesi Rayasi; Selestino Ravutaumada, Kalaveti Ravouvou, Josua Tuisova, Jiuta Wainiqolo; Caleb Muntz, Simione Kuruvoli; Eroni Mawi, Tevita Ikanivere, Mesake Doge; Isoa Nasilasila, Temo Mayanavanua; Kitione Salawa, Elia Canakaivata, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: Zuriel Togiatama, Haereti Hetet, Samuela Tawake, Mesake Vocevoce, Motikai Murray, Sam Wye, Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, Sireli Maqala.
Preamble
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 that you must spend weeks clearing up in a foul mood. And it’s started raining.
Steve Borthwick will powerfully wish to change this picture and it’s started OK for him. The opening win over Australia in this year’s November is already better than 2024, when three miserable losses were punctuated by a bog-standard win over Japan as the full stop in the final week. Much was made amidst the post-series malaise that the opening trio of NZ, Australia and Boks meant the fixtures were front loaded to a fault, with a momentum of misery accompanying each week’s result. In 2025 lessons have been learned, with the win over the Wallabies followed with today’s outing against Fiji as a chance to consolidate the positive vibes.
It’s a much changed England team from last 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 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; they remain the only side undefeated by Italy in the Six Nations for example, and rarely lose to tier two opponents.
