Category: Rugby Union

• ‘We need a clear gameplan to put them under pressure’

• All Blacks have not lost at Twickenham for 13 years

Jamie George has warned that England must not be seduced by the All Blacks’ mystique if they are to clinch a first Twickenham victory over New Zealand in 13 years on Saturday.

Steve Borthwick has been boosted before the toughest assignment of England’s autumn campaign with the return to fitness of Elliot Daly, who could make his first appearance since fracturing an arm on British & Irish Lions duty, while Freddie Steward and Tom Roebuck were also named in Sunday night’s 37-man squad.

England survived a tricky first half to deliver a comfortable win at Allianz Twickenham

6 mins. Fiji exit with little fuss, but Muntz’s kick to touch simply invites another attack from and English lineout. A nice pattern is run in midfield that nearly puts Freeman into space, and a few phases later Cowan-Dickie powers over from short.

Smith converts.

Harlequins man will have a new role against Fiji in a side likely to deploy a similar gameplan to that which felled Australia

Opportunity knocks for Chandler Cunningham-South against Fiji on Saturday. He has 18 caps to his name but this will be the first time he has worn the No 8 jersey for his country and he has the chance to demonstrate to Steve Borthwick that he can offer something different in a back row brimming with talent.

Borthwick’s decision to omit Tom Willis from his squad on the grounds he is heading to France has meant there is an opening because, for all the quality options England have in the back row, there is a concentration of openside flankers and far fewer players who offer genuine size and power. Cunningham-South offers both in abundance.

With Marcus Smith at full-back and a highly mobile back five in the pack, Steve Borthwick could play with the handbrake fully off

Much has happened in the 27 months since Fiji were last at Twickenham and beat England. You would certainly have had decent odds back then on the home side’s reserve prop Joe Marler becoming a national TV treasure, a fever dream roughly on a par with Claudia Winkleman shaving off her hair and packing down at loosehead. Who knew?

But here we are in an increasingly parallel universe. Big Joe now has Alan Carr and Sir Stephen Fry on speed dial while England, since the 30-22 defeat in August 2023, have also undergone their own extreme makeover. Having been a team who, by the admission of their own coach early in his tenure, “weren’t good at anything” they are now hoping to extend an eight-match winning run after defeating Australia comfortably last week.

• Genge to captain side as Borthwick makes seven changes

• Itoje on the bench after missing training due to injury

Steve Borthwick has ­acknowledged the challenges presented by ­managing Marcus Smith’s ­diminished role for England but has urged the recalled playmaker to kickstart his side’s attack against Fiji on Saturday.

Borthwick revealed that he met with Smith before England’s autumn campaign to offer support to the ­Harlequins No 10, who was ­first-choice fly-half 12 months ago before being moved to full-back and then to the role of super sub.

Viewers have been won over by the quick-witted and quirky former England international. But do they all know about the groin-grabbing and that ‘horse’ of his?

It’s difficult to know where to begin with a not-so-quick guide to Celebrity Traitors’ breakout star, Joe Marler. The BBC series has introduced a wider public to the tattooed, 18-stone-plus former England rugby union player – fans won over by his quick-witted humour, allied to a direct, confrontational form of questioning and an uncanny knack for detective work.

Not all viewers, though, will be au fait with his backstory; the 35-year-old dungaree-wearing ex-prop forward admitted he was mistaken for a sound technician by his fellow celebrities when first on set, and then asked whether he played rugby league when he revealed his previous 15-year career. For those who know rugby union, however, Marler’s style on the show has come as little surprise, save it being slightly toned down for a wider public audience.

Rugby union is going from strength to strength in the Pacific Island country and the team are eager to settle the score of a World Cup quarter-final defeat

True, they are the lowest-ranked team England will play in November, but it would be highly dangerous to underestimate Fiji. Coming between an opening victory against Australia and a box-office encounter with the All Blacks, it might be easy to regard Saturday’s Twickenham encounter as a relatively straightforward assignment. Easy, but foolish.

You don’t have to go back far – two years or so, to an autumn afternoon in Marseille and England’s 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final – to remember how potent Fiji can be.