Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - England Training - Pennyhill Park, Bagshot, Britain - November 3, 2025 England's Fin Smith during training Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

Smiths back, Itoje on bench for much-changed England against Fiji

06 Nov 2025, 14:06 · CNA · Join

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

BAGSHOT, England :Fullback Marcus Smith and flyhalf Fin Smith have been recalled among seven changes to the England team to face Fiji on Saturday, with captain Maro Itoje having the rare experience of starting on the bench to manage a minor injury.

Marcus Smith, who missed out on last week's 25-7 win over Australia but played fullback against Fiji in the 2023 World Cup, replaces Freddie Steward, who has a finger injury.

Fin Smith, England's starting 10 in the Six Nations, comes in for George Ford, who is not included in the match 23 named by Steve Borthwick on Thursday as Marcus Smith offers flyhalf cover.

Tommy Freeman moves from outside centre to the right wing in place of the injured Tom Roebuck, allowing the return of in-form Ollie Lawrence at 13 for his first international appearance since rupturing an Achilles against Italy in the Six Nations.

Subscribe to CNA's Recommended Read
A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.

This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners.
Loading

In the pack, the versatile Chandler Cunningham-South comes in at Number Eight, with Ben Earl moving to openside flanker.

It is a great opportunity for the hard-carrying Cunningham-South, who has played across the back row and at lock for Harlequins but has not been able to hold down a regular spot with England.

Borthwick seemed to have settled on Tom Willis as his Number Eight but jettisoned him when he announced he would be going to play in France next season, making him ineligible for England after that.

Borthwick then returned to the more athletic approach of Earl, who was a try-scoring man-of-the-match against Australia, but Cunningham-South offers a more bulky option.

Prop Ellis Genge will captain the team with Itoje poised to take back the duties once he joins the fray as a replacement for the first time since 2017 as a precaution after he suffered a slight lower leg injury against Australia.

Henry Arundell and Ben Spencer are the two backs in a 6-2 bench split.

FIJI POSE TOUGH TEST FOR ENGLAND

England's 30-22 defeat by Fiji in front of a sparse Twickenham crowd in August 2023 was probably the nadir of Borthwick's stewardship and they had to battle hard to edge them 30-24 in the World Cup quarter-finals two months later.

Those were the days when Borthwick had instilled an uber-conservative kick-based game that took England agonisingly close to beating South Africa in the semi-finals.

But he has layered on new levels of attack and blooded a host of new players since then. Only five starters from that Marseille quarter-final will begin Saturday's match.

"I think you see a team that will want to move the ball," Borthwick told reporters. "I think everybody in the stadium is going to be excited when that ball comes into Marcus's hands in a bit of space.

"We've got pace and power on the edges. I think that Fin Smith and Marcus were champing a bit for the opportunity. That combination of Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman is a strong one and now we'll see the Fraser and Ollie Lawrence combination, which is great."

Despite Genge being on the losing side in his previous two captaincy appearances, including the record 54-10 loss to France, Borthwick was full of praise for the fiery prop.

"He leads by example," he said. "That's always the way Ellis does with the intensity of his play, the way he takes the game to the opposition. I think if I was a player and he'd be leading the charge, I'd be right behind him."

After facing Fiji, England will play New Zealand and Argentina on the following two Saturdays.

Fiji's last match was a 33-27 win over Japan in the Pacific Cup final in September but they should be a stronger side on Saturday with full access to their many Europe-based players.

Team:

15–Marcus Smith, 14–Tommy Freeman, 13–Ollie Lawrence, 12–Fraser Dingwall, 11–Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10–Fin Smith, 9–Alex Mitchell, 8–Chandler Cunningham-South, 7–Ben Earl, 6–Guy Pepper, 5–Ollie Chessum, 4–Alex Coles, 3–Joe Heyes, 2–Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1–Ellis Genge

Replacements: 16–Jamie George, 17–Fin Baxter, 18–Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19–Maro Itoje, 20–Tom Curry, 21–Henry Pollock, 22–Ben Spencer, 23–Henry Arundell

Smiths back, Itoje on bench for much-changed England against Fiji

Recommended Read

Sign up for our newsletters

Get the CNA app