Henry Slade returns as England seek to end losing run against Fiji

Henry Slade is back in England’s starting side for Fiji after being left unused throughout the Six Nations, as Steve Borthwick gambles on a centre reshuffle to stop a five-Test slide. England face Fiji at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool on Saturday 11 July 2026, kick-off 2.10pm BST, live on ITV1, with Slade starting at centre and Guy Pepper also coming into the XV that lost 45-21 to South Africa in Johannesburg.

The decision puts Borthwick’s selection logic under immediate scrutiny. England are trying to avoid a sixth successive Test defeat after the collapse against South Africa on 4 July, when yellow cards for Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper left them with only 13 men for the final seven minutes. With pressure mounting on the head coach, Slade’s recall reads as more than a routine change: it is a test of whether England are correcting a missed opportunity from the Six Nations, improvising under strain, or turning back to a more familiar combination because the situation has become too urgent for experimentation.

England’s build-up has been complicated by injuries and illness. George Furbank missed the South Africa defeat after appendicitis surgery in Johannesburg, and Tom Roebuck was drafted into the squad after his withdrawal. Cadan Murley and Freddie Steward were also injury doubts earlier in the week, while uncapped forwards George Kloska and Noah Caluori were named among the replacements for the Fiji match.

The wider picture is no kinder to England. Brian Moore has warned that the pressure on Borthwick would become deafening if England fail to beat Fiji and then Argentina, and the numbers underline why. England have won 10 of their 11 meetings with Fiji, including a 38-18 victory at Allianz Stadium in last year’s Quilter Nations Series, yet Fiji still carried a warning from 2023 when they beat England 30-22 in a World Cup warm-up.

Borthwick said England had had a “really positive week of preparation” and described Fiji as a “dangerous side” that would demand the best from his players. After Liverpool, England travel to Santiago del Estero to face Argentina on 18 July, a trip that will quickly show whether Slade’s return is the start of a reset or simply a short-term answer to a deeper problem.