Will a poor showing against Fiji be the end of Steve Borthwick?

Match News and Current Form

After going into the interval at 10-10 against Wales last weekend, Fiji were beaten for the third time in their last four matches (W1) as they conceded the first two and the last two tries of a 43 point second-half in Cardiff. Interim coach Senirusi Seruvakula must find a way to turn his side who beat the most defenders (42), carried the ball the furthest (674 metres), broke the line the most (12) and won more turnovers (9) of all the teams in the opening round, into a winning unit.

The coach has highlighted their scrum and line-outs as key areas of improvement and something that they have been working on over the last seven days. In total, Seruvakula has made nine changes to his starting XV for this weekend with captain Tevita Ikanivere at hooker one of only six players to retain their place.

With his job on the line, Borthwick has recalled centre Henry Slade to England’s XV, a player who didn’t feature at all in the 2026 Six Nations Championship and was also left out of the squad for the 2023 World Cup. Slade ended the domestic season in strong form and is one of two personnel changes in the XV with Guy Pepper replacing Tom Curry at open-side flanker.

Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, Noah Caluori and George Kloska are all hoping to make their Test debuts as replacements and to play a part in getting England back to the form they enjoyed at the start of February when they beat Wales 48-7 to make it 12 consecutive victories.

Head-to-Head History

England have won nine of the previous ten H2Hs with Fiji with their solitary defeat in the fixture coming in August 2023.

Hot Stats and Streaks

There have been 55+ match points across Fiji’s last six games.

Fiji have conceded 2+ first half tries in each of their last four matches.

England have conceded 42+ points in three of their last four games.

The points difference at half time has been three points or fewer in England’s last three fixtures.

Key Players to Watch and Missing Players

Tevita Ikanivere scored two of Fiji’s three tries in their last H2H against England, while Ellis Genge also touched down in that game and scored England’s first try against South Africa.

Semi Radradra and Tim Hoyt are both out injured for the rest of Fiji’s first phase of fixtures in the Nations Championship, as are Beno Obano and Cadan Murley for England.

Betting Analysis

In light of recent match points tallies of games involving Fiji, backing over 53.5 total points in this match could be a smart move.

See the latest squads and team news for the match here.