Borthwick breaking the mould?
One of the criticisms thrown at Steve Borthwick for much of his tenure has been a perceived lack of innovation and willingness to throw caution to the wind. If England's first game of the autumn was anything to go by, he's ready to shed that perception.
A report in the Telegraph said he arrived at the door of referee Nika Amashukeli for the traditional pre-match meeting with a binder of examples of Australia's unlawful entries into rucks. Australia were duly pinged early on at Twickenham as England got on their way to a 25-7 victory.
The report has not been denied by the England camp, and if true, shows Borthwick is willing to ruffle feathers in the name of what Australia coach Joe Schmidt later described as "a bit of gamesmanship".
If that wasn't enough of a nod to world rugby's 'mad scientist' Rassie Erasmus, Borthwick has also taken to hinting that he will be mixing positions up for some of his players in the future.
Erasmus has long said that hulking centre Andre Esterhuizen is seen as a back-up option at flanker, while actual flanker Kwagga Smith is someone who can cover the backline in the event of a 7-1 split backfiring.
Last week Borthwick made reference to the fact that barnstorming loose forwards Guy Pepper, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock could be deployed among the backs over the autumn or beyond. If it is to be over the autumn, the upcoming match against Fiji is clearly the time to do it.
Whether it's all smoke and mirrors - as it appeared to be when Borthwick's predecessor Eddie Jones waxed lyrical about winger Jack Nowell's future on the flank - it shows that England's current head coach is willing to try something new in order to help his side end their nearly 25 year wait for a Rugby World Cup title.
Has Farrell got a job on his hands?
A lot was made of Ireland's lack of preparation going into their 26-13 loss to the All Blacks in Chicago. It was Andy Farrell's first game back in charge following his sabbatical with the British and Irish Lions, and the first time Ireland had played with (most of) their front-line players available since March's Six Nations finale.
The fact that the team was disjointed in attack and at the set piece is to be expected to an extent, but the fact that the spine of his team comes from one province does go some way to mitigating that.
Regardless, Ireland seem a fair way off the machine that rolled into town at the 2023 Rugby World Cup and went unbeaten through the group stage - including beating eventual champions South Africa - before coming up against one of the best performances from a New Zealand team for some time in the knockouts.
Going into that World Cup the talk had been, for some time, that Ireland were too reliant on Johnny Sexton and had not given his understudies enough game time during the four-year cycle leading up to the tournament.
Since Sexton's retirement on the back of that quarter-final loss two years ago, Farrell still does not seem to have the answer as to who will pull the strings in Australia in two years' time.
While competition for places is a good thing, Farrell and his staff appeared to give Sam Prendergast a long go at making the jersey his own, while Saturday's fly-half, Jack Crowley, has had limited chances.
Crowley, like his team-mates, did not deliver a slick performance against the All Blacks, but could be allowed to retain the jersey for the upcoming fixtures against Japan, Australia and South Africa. Will it be enough?
One of the hallmarks of Farrell's Ireland two years ago was meticulous preparation and clear knowledge of who his best team would be on any given Saturday. While the next World Cup is still a long way off, he'll be keen to get some clarity on the number ten jersey at the very least by the end of next year's Six Nations.
Scotland flex but New Zealand are next
Scotland deserve praise for the way they tore apart USA at Murrayfield on Saturday, but they will be more than aware that there is a far bigger challenge looming this week. The All Blacks, who only just lost out to the Springboks for this year's Rugby Championship title, will be looking to continue their impressive record of having never lost to Scotland over the course of history.
Ireland faltered against New Zealand over the weekend, but the reverse was also true: dropped passes, mix-ups in running lines and uncharacteristic errors in defence for the men who set the standard for so long.
But just as Ireland will improve this week, so will the All Blacks, and Scotland are expecting it.
"It's a huge match. This game has been sold out for a while. Everyone loves watching the All Blacks," an excited Gregor Townsend told BBC Scotland.
There is no doubt that Scotland have made strides under Townsend in recent times, but they have not translated those improvements into anything close to proper silverware. Despite an impressive record against England in particular over the past few Six Nations, Scotland have only once finished higher than fourth in the tournament since the 2019 Rugby World Cup. That is a poor record by any side's standards.
In Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn they have x-factor players who are seasoned Lions, and Townsend also has the luxury of consistency as they are one of the most settled sides in the northern hemisphere. But they now need to kick on and reach their potential.
During the 2024 Rugby Championship, New Zealand notched their 50th consecutive victory at Eden Park. The host broadcaster showed a graphic which had the longest winning streak for countries at a single stadium, and as well as being top of the pile with their Eden Park frugality, New Zealand were also fourth on the list for their 19 consecutive wins at Murrayfield.
In France in 2023, Scotland had the incredibly difficult task of qualifying for the World Cup quarter-finals when pitted in a group against hotly-tipped Ireland and South Africa. The latter beat the Scotland, the former dismantled them. While most teams would have struggled under those odds, Scotland have struggled even more to put their tag as inconsistent strugglers to bed.
They have never won the Six Nations under its current guise, and they have never beaten the All Blacks. They will know that at least one of those stats has to fall before the next World Cup if they want to be seen as serious contenders, and on Saturday they have a huge opportunity to tick one of them off.