Autumn Nations Series - Round 1 Preview: England host Wallabies as Ireland and All Blacks battle in Chicago

So, for the team's looking to secure an easier ride throughout the group stage out in Australia, this Autumn Series acts as the ultimate opportunity to put those plans into place. This November, the world's biggest Test match titans are back on display, with a formidable four weeks of action set to commence this Saturday, November 1st. So, ahead of the opening weekend of the Autumn Series, here's a run-down of all the upcoming fixtures for the tier one nations.

One of the most memorable moments of the entire 2024 Autumn Nations Series, saw England come undone at the death against Australia. Having edged in front with just seconds left on the clock thanks to a late Maro Itoje try, all England had to do was collect the re-start and clear their lines for the win.

However, the England captain fumbled the re-start, with the ball retained at the Wallabies scrum before finding Max Jorgensen out wide. The Waratahs young-gun exploded along the touch-line to steal the win from Steve Borthwick's side, with the England head coach eyeing up redemption this Saturday afternoon. England enjoyed a solid Summer tour of three wins on the bounce, with back-to-back triumphs over Argentina bouyed by a one-sided hammering of the United States in Washington DC.

Borthwick has gone early with his squad announcement, with some question marks raised around some surprising alterations to his squad. There's no space for Marcus Smith in the match day squad, as George Ford gets the nod at 10, with Fin Smith named on the replacements. Tommy Freeman is unleashed at outside centre in a trial run from his usual spot out on the wing, with Freddie Steward returning to the England back-field following a strong Summer tour.

The Wallabies are yet to name their team, yet you would expect head coach Joe Schmidt would have some tricks up his sleeve for this return to Twickenham. After taking over Australia following the 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage exit under Eddie Jones, Schmidt has re-kindled the Wallabies into a well-rounded outfit once again. Despite losing the series against the British & Irish Lions 2-1, Australia impressed in the trilogy against the tourists, and also put in a solid performance against Fiji to boot.

The Springboks head back to London once again, albeit Rassie Erasmus' men will move away from their second home of Twickenham Stadium this weekend. Having defeated the likes of New Zealand, Wales and Argentina in recent trips to 'HQ', South Africa venture across to Wembley Stadium for a blockbuster clash against Japan set to ignite the home of English football.

South Africa enjoyed quite a straight-forward Summer of success, which was started by a one-sided win against the Barbarians, who featured retirement bound Peter O'Mahony and Cian Healy amongst those in black and white. The Boks followed this up with two landslide drubbings of Italy, before then putting Georgia to the sword to wrap up their Summer. What followed was far more significant for South Africa, as the Boks went on to retain their Rugby Championship title for the first time in their history.

The Springboks were stunned by an early defeat to Australia, yet bounced back to lead one of the closest Rugby Championship campaigns in recent memory. The biggest moment for the green and gold Goliath was the record-setting 43-10 victory over the All Blacks, as New Zealand suffered their heaviest ever defeat in their decorated history. Rassie's men would cruise past Argentina in the final round to retain the Rugby Championship, with the Springboks' riding a wave of momentum into the November Tests.

16 players from the Springboks' Rugby Championship title triumph over Argentina at the Allianz Stadium, have been recalled to the match day squad to take on Japan. Rassie Erasmus also welcomes back wing Kurt-Lee Arendse and is handing a Test debut to highly rated young prop, 21-year-old Zach Pawten.

Japan enter the Autumn Internationals following a mixed bag of form upon their recent Test match outings. Eddie Jones' men hosted Wales for a two-match series throughout the Summer, for an overall drawn series at 1-1. This tour witnessed the end of Wales' arduous 18-match losing run, yet there were plenty of positives for Japan to take away from a solid shift against a Tier One nation. Japan then finished runners-up to Fiji in the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup, after picking up wins over the USA and Canada.

Next up for the opening weekend of the Autumn Series is Scotland, with Gregor Townsend's men looking to build upon their Summer excursion across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Scotland kicked off their campaign with a narrow 29-26 victory over the Maori All Blacks, with the fully-fledged New Zealand side on the horizon for the upcoming Autumn Series.

Townsend's men then traveled out to Suva, for a clash with the Pacific Island nation of Fiji. This hard-hitting contest in the harsh island heat proved too much for the Scots, as the Flying Fijians prevailed 29-14. Scotland then returned to New Zealand for their final spot of the tour, as the iconic Eden Park hosted their series closer against Samoa. Even without an array of late British & Irish Lions call-ups and the logistics of juggling the vacancies left in the squad, Scotland put together a dominant performance to claim a 41-12 win in Auckland.

During the Summer, the United States endured a mixed bag of form and will be hoping to improve their fortunes throughout the Autumn Series. The stars and stripes picked up a solid victory over Belgium, however, they would then fall to Spain, before being hammered by a new-look England side 40-5. The USA then had a rough ride throughout the Pacific Nations Cup with pool stage defeats to Canada and Japan. The campaign was redeemed in their 5th/6th-place play-off victory over Samoa, that subsequently secured the USA qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Whilst the USA side head up to Edinburgh to commence their Autumn Series, there is plenty of action set to feature in the land 'across the pond'. Ireland and the All Blacks are set to renew their iconic rivalry, with a return to Chicago's Soldier Field for a re-match some nine years in the making. The venue provided the back-drop to a now immortalised Irish win in 2016, as the men from the Emerald Isle defeated New Zealand for the first time in their 111-year history.

It was the 29th time lucky for Ireland, with a capacity crowd of over 60,000 fans witnessing the history being made in Chicago. The final score was 40-29 to Joe Schmidt's side, despite the best efforts of a second half comeback from the back-to-back Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks. Chicago is one of the most 'Irish' cities in the USA, with roughly 8% of the population claiming ancestral ties to Ireland today. Expect plenty of tri-colours and a wave of green jerseys to flood the regular home of the Chicago Bears NFL team, for a blockbuster match up to close out the opening weekend.

The team news is set to drop at 1pm on Thursday from the Ireland camp, with the All Blacks also yet to reveal their picks for the upcoming showdown in Chi-town. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will soon be providing the details regarding an assortment of injury concerns, with the Connacht pairing of Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen under review after they both picked up injuries in a recent URC match against the Bulls.

Also, having been called-up to the travelling squad as injury cover, the uncapped Munster duo of Edwin Edogbo and Brian Gleeson returned to their province following knocks sustained in the hard-fought win over Leinster at Croke Park. Gleeson fractured his elbow at Croke Park on Saturday night and will undergo surgery, whilst Edogbo failed a HIA at half-time and is undergoing the return-to-play protocols.