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Quilter Nations Series: England v Fiji
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 8 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT
Coverage: Live on Radio 5 Sports Extra; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app
For England, the time to test theories on turf has arrived.
Two years out from the Rugby World Cup, with a clutch of youngsters blooded over the summer and free from the pressure of a Six Nations campaign, they face Fiji on Saturday - their weakest opponent of the autumn, according to rankings at least.
The nights may have drawn in, but it is a weekend for blue-sky thinking and distant horizons.
Some of the seven changes to their starting XV are enforced. Full-back Freddie Steward is ruled out with a hand injury. Wing Tom Roebuck has tweaked an ankle. Captain Maro Itoje, a fixture in the team for nearly a decade, is on the bench with a rare knock.
But head coach Steve Borthwick might well have shaken up the selection anyway.
With eight straight wins buying some breathing space, his priority is competition to push the squad to new heights, rather than continuity.
The focus is especially sharp at fly-half.
Fin Smith, Northampton's wise young head, has got the nod.
George Ford, who steered the team so assuredly in the summer, is left out. Marcus Smith, the spark at the centre of England's attack this time last year, is in his unfavoured full-back slot.
Three into 10 doesn't go.
And while Kevin Sinfield spoke of the edge and appetite that chopping and changing has brought to camp, the assistant coach admitted there is frustration and disgruntlement to manage as well.
"I've met Marcus a couple of times out of camp in the last period," said Borthwick of a player who has not had a shot back at fly-half since starting there in eight successive games up until February.
"I think I want all the players to feel supported on the journey. It's rare that anybody's journey just goes in one direction and stays that way.
"Players always have bumps and their own corners to turn, that's always part of the nature of it and I think the coaching team is there supporting our players.
"Whereas a player is always selected for their club, sometimes that's not quite the case here and the role changes. That produces challenges for us and in the environment because they all want to play, but I'd much rather it that way than the other way."
It isn't just among the fly-halves that England have people out of position and noses out of joint.
Chandler Cunningham-South, who has started only three games at number eight for club and country over the past 12 months, gets a shot to prove himself as a close-quarters powerhouse capable of replacing the France-bound Tom Willis.
Henry Arundell is the sole backline replacement on the bench, leaving open the possibility of back row Ben Earl slotting into midfield once again.
Alternatively, Fin Smith himself has been training at inside centre, primed, in the case of injury, to shunt out one spot to make way for Marcus.
Why all the square pegs, sweeping changes and subsequent soft-skill tricksiness to keep everyone happy?
The hope is to arrive at Australia 2027 with a team of greater depth and flexibility. One with versatile players able to step into different roles, creating a team that can adapt swiftly and isn't heavily reliant on headline names.
Success would allow England to ape the forward-heavy power-play bench that South Africa deployed en route to the Rugby World Cup victory in France.
Borthwick wants to drain opponents' batteries with relentless tempo and energy, moving the ball far and fast. The system is the star, rather than any particular player.
That tactic puts a further premium on quality running 23, rather than just starting 15, deep.
"From a physical point of the view, the team is improving," he told Rugby Union Weekly. "I think we have stepped forward from where we were 12 months ago - we have more pace, our acceleration is improving.
"You see the athleticism the team has got, which is a different make-up to previous England teams.
"I want to be in a position where every player can play 80 minutes, we are not quite there yet but we will be."
Gengenpressing? Total rugby? Borthersball 2.0?
Whatever England are cooking up, Fiji will not be compliant test subjects.
Their last visit to Twickenham was a 30-22 shock win in August 2023, blowing away any mystique around the stadium and its residents.
Their backline shimmers with threat, with Bristol's Kalaveti Ravouvou's flair outside Josua Tuisova's power in the centres, and Jiuta Wainiqolo - a swerving dervish of a wing heading the Top 14 try charts - out wide.
Their physicality is never in doubt. Earl this week described the sound of Tom Curry and Levani Botia coming together in 2023's Rugby World Cup quarter final.
"The noise that made I was like: 'Oh my God,'" he remembered with a wince.
"It is very rare you think that on the pitch."
England will need to play those hits again, but it is the new, experimental material that is most important to Borthwick and his team.
