2024 Autumn Internationals Preview

Here we take a look ahead at the upcoming Autumn Internationals, which are set to begin at the start of November.

The Autumn Internationals are a one month international rugby spectacular, and it is something that rugby fans across the world look forward to. This year is no different, with England, Scotland and Wales taking part this year alongside the likes of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Fiji, Georgia, Italy, and France.

Games will be taking place from Saturday 2^nd November to Saturday 30^th November 2024, during which there will be a total of 21 fixtures taking place across the continent of Europe. Some of the best international teams and players will be taking part in one of the highlights of the rugby calendar.

Players will be looking to impress in these matches as they look to seal themselves a spot in the British & Irish Lions side that will be going on a tour of Australia in the Summer of 2025.

Here we will preview the action to come, with particular focus on the games involving Steve Borthwick’s England and Gregor Townsend’s Scotland.

In the 2023 Autumn Internationals, England memorably beat rivals Wales 19 – 17 at Twickenham. You can watch the highlights below (via England Rugby on YouTube):

England vs. New Zealand (Allianz Stadium, Twickenham) – Saturday 2^nd November 2024, 3:10pm

Two heavyweights of international rugby, England and New Zealand, will be going toe to toe on the opening day of the 2024 Autumn Internationals at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham) on Saturday 2^nd November at 3:10pm. Not only will this be a tough test for Steve Borthwick’s England, it will also be a clash between sides that are ranked 5^th and 3^rd in the World Rankings as of the time of writing, making it a highly prestigious fixture.

These two nations last met in a competitive fixture during England’s 2024 Tour of Australia, facing each other at Eden Park in Auckland on 13^th July 2024. It was a narrow 24 – 17 defeat for Borthwick and his team.

England’s most recent victory against their Southern Hemisphere counterparts came on 26^th October 2019 at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Semi-Final. It was a 19 – 7 scoreline in favour of Borthwick and his team overall.

England vs. Australia (Allianz Stadium, Twickenham) – Saturday 9^th November 2024, 3:10pm

Next up for Steve Borthwick’s England will be a game against Joe Schmidt’s Australia at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham) on Saturday 9^th November 2024, with the game getting underway at 3:10 that afternoon. Both sides are sat in the top ten in the world rankings, with England currently sat up in 5^th place compared with 10^th spot for Australia.

England were victorious when these two nations last met in a competitive fixture as part of England’s tour of Australia on 16^th July 2022. The game took place in Sydney, at the Sydney Cricket Ground – it was an enthralling and competitive contest that ended in a tight 17 – 21 victory for the visitors.

This made it two wins in two for England in the Southern Hemisphere having beaten Australia 17 – 25 at Lang Park in Brisbane a week earlier on 9^th July.

England vs. South Africa (Allianz Stadium, Twickenham) – Saturday 16^th November 2024, 5:40pm

The game that follows their clash with Australia will see Steve Borthwick’s England go toe to toe with South Africa in what is arguably their highest profile fixture of their 2024 Autumn Internationals campaign.

England are 5^th in the World Rankings, whilst South Africa are currently in 2^nd place as things stand following their World Cup win back in 2023, when they were 12 – 11 winners against New Zealand in France. If Borthwick’s side are victorious, it would be a statement triumph for his team.

The last time that England took on the Springboks was back on 21^st October 2023 during that year’s Rugby World Cup. It was a competitive game where South Africa were narrow 15 – 16 winners at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

It was on 20^th November 2021, during that year’s Autumn Internationals, when England last beat South Africa in a competitive fixture. They were able to beat their opponents 27 – 26 at the iconic and historic Twickenham during that year’s Autumn Internationals.

England vs. Japan (Allianz Stadium, Twickenham) – Sunday 24^th November 2024, 4:10pm

The fourth and final fixture of the 2024 Autumn Internationals will see England take on Japan at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham) on the afternoon of Sunday 24^th November 2024, with the contest set to get underway at 4:10pm.

England are the highest ranked side out of these two nations, being sat in 5^th place at the moment, with only France, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland ahead of them as of the time of writing. Meanwhile, Japan are currently 14^th in the world with Samoa, Georgia, Wales, and Australia in their way of a spot in the top ten.

They last met competitively in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with them going head to head at the Allianz Riviera (Stade de Nice) on Monday 18^th September. It was an emphatic 12 – 34 victory for England, who will be looking to emerge victorious once more against Japan when they meet once again in the Autumn Internationals in November.

Now we move on to Scotland, where we will look at their four fixtures to come in their 2024 Autumn Internationals campaign.

In the 2023 edition of the Autumn Internationals, Scotland did memorably beat France at the Principality Stadium. You can view the highlights of that game below (via Amazon Prime Video Sport on YouTube):

Scotland vs. Fiji (Murrayfield) – Saturday 2^nd November 2024, 5:40pm

Gregor Townsend and his Scotland squad will be taking on Fiji in their opening game of the Autumn Internationals at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Saturday 2^nd November 2024, with the game getting underway at 5:40pm that evening.

Both nations are sat within the top ten of the world rankings, with Scotland sat in 7^th place, whilst their opponents Fiji currently find themselves 9^th. This promises to be an enthralling and competitive contest.

Fiji were narrow 27 – 22 winners when these two nations last met on 24^th June 2017 at the ANZ Stadium, now known as the HFC Bank Stadium. Scotland did memorably beat Fiji 20 – 22 at the 2003 World Cup. Scotland reached the Quarter Final of that year’s competition, losing to Australia who went on to be runners-up to England in the Final.

Scotland vs. South Africa (Murrayfield) – Sunday 10^th November 2024, 4:10pm

After their game against Fiji, Gregor Townsend’s Scotland will go toe to toe with South Africa, who became the reigning world champions following their Rugby World Cup Final win in 2023. Scotland are ranked at 7^th place in the world whilst their opponents currently find themselves in second with only Ireland above them at the moment.

The most recent competitive encounter between Scotland and South Africa was at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on 10^th September 2023 as part of that year’s Rugby World Cup. It was a comfortable 18 – 3 victory for South Africa on that day.

Townsend and his Scotland side will be looking to beat South Africa for the first time in almost 15 years when they finally meet once more at Murrayfield. The last victory for Scotland against these opponents was during the Autumn Internationals on 20^th November 2010, when they won 21 – 17.

Scotland vs. Portugal (Murrayfield) – Saturday 16^th November 2024, 3:10pm

The penultimate game of the 2024 Autumn Internationals for Gregor Townsend and Scotland will be against Portugal at Murrayfield on Saturday 16^th November 2024, with proceedings in this contest set to get underway that afternoon at 3:10pm.

As of the time of writing, the world rankings at present see Scotland sit in seventh place whilst their opponents Portugal find themselves down in 15^th place at the moment. It looks likely to be a competitive game, but it is one that Scotland will be confident of winning.

These two nations have only ever met twice to date. Scotland were victorious in their most recent encounter on 9^th September 2007 at Murrayfield in the World Cup, where they were commanding 56 – 10 winners against their Portuguese counterparts in Edinburgh.

Scotland were also victorious in their only other encounter with Portugal in what was a qualifier for the 1999 Rugby World Cup on 28^th November 1998. It was an emphatic and ruthless 86 – 11 win for Scotland, who were in red hot form against Portugal that day. In that 1999 World Cup, they did lost 30 – 18 to South Africa.

Scotland vs. Australia (Murrayfield) – Sunday 24^th November 2024, 1:40pm

Finally, Scotland’s final 2024 Autumn Internationals fixture sees them go head to head with Australia at Murrayfield in what is a highly anticipated contest in Edinburgh at the famous Murrayfield. The game will be played at 1:40pm on the afternoon of Sunday 24^th November.

Both of these nations are amongst the best teams in the world, with both sat in the top ten. Scotland are currently occupying 7^th place whilst Australia are a few places below them in 10^th. Fiji and Italy are the nations that separate them at the moment.

Scotland last met Australia in a competitive contest in the 2022 Autumn Internationals at Murrayfield back on 29^th October that year. It was a very competitive game that saw the hosts very narrowly defeated by their Southern Hemisphere opponents by a margin on 15 – 16 in the end.

Their encounter at the same venue as part of the Autumn Internationals the previous year in 2021 was another tight game, but this time it was Scotland who won, beating the visitors 15 – 13 in what is their most recent win against these opponents.

This win in 2021 was their third in a row after beating Australia 19 – 24 on 17^th June 2017 and 54 – 24 on 25^th November 2017, in that year’s Autumn internationals.

Below are the other fixtures taking place over the course of the 2024 Autumn Internationals in November:

• Ireland vs. New Zealand (Aviva Stadium) – Friday 8^th November 2024, 8:10pm.
• Italy vs. Argentina (Stadio Friuli) – Saturday 9^th November 2024, 5:40pm.
• France vs. Japan (Stade de France) – Saturday 9^th November 2024, 8:10pm.
• Wales vs. Fiji (Principality Stadium) – Sunday 10^th November 2024, 1:40pm.
• Ireland vs. Argentina (Aviva Stadium) – Friday 15^th November 2024, 8:10pm.
• France vs. New Zealand (Stade de France) – Saturday 16^th November 2024, 8:10pm.
• Italy vs. Georgia (Stadio Luigi Ferraris) – Sunday 17^th November 2024, 1:40pm.
• Wales vs. Australia (Principality Stadium) – Sunday 17^th November 2024, 4:10pm.
• France vs. Argentina (Stade de France) – Friday 22^nd November 2024, 8:10pm.
• Ireland vs. Fiji (Aviva Stadium) – Saturday 23^rd November 2024, 3:10pm.
• Wales vs. South Africa (Principality Stadium) – Saturday 23^rd November 2024, 5:40pm.
• Italy vs. New Zealand (Allianz Stadium, Turin) – Saturday 23^rd November 2024, 8:10pm.
• Ireland vs. Australia (Aviva Stadium) – Saturday 30^th November 2024, 3:10pm.

Excitement and anticipation are building rapidly ahead of the 2024 edition of the much anticipated Autumn Internationals, which are going to be getting underway on Saturday 2^nd November 2024. The opening day of action will see England face New Zealand, whilst Scotland will go toe to toe with Fiji.

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