England and New Zealand head into Saturday’s clash at Twickenham with both sides having an added incentive for victory.
New Zealand, a perennial rugby superpower, arrive in Europe in the unusual position of being outside the top two in the world rankings, with Ireland and South Africa occupying those spots.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, who took over after an agonising one-point loss to the Springboks in last year’s World Cup final, has since presided over a home defeat by Argentina as well as two loses away to South Africa.
But he also oversaw a pair of close wins at home to England in July — 16-15 in Dunedin and 24-17 in Auckland.
New Zealand launched their tour last week, when a largely second-string side thrashed Japan 64-19.
Only four players who started in Yokohama are in the 15 to kick-off against England, with Robertson blunt about what New Zealand, who also face Ireland and France this trip, must do in order to return to the summit of world rugby.
– ‘Created but not finished’ –
“Keep winning,” he said. “We’ve created but not finished. That’s the big thing for us…When we get it right, we’re a good team.”
England and New Zealand have met 45 times since 1905.
But more than half of those matches have been in rugby union’s professional era, with the All Blacks winning 17 of the last 20 encounters.
Robertson, however, insisted Twickenham fixtures were still significant events.
“It’s huge, it’s the home of rugby, isn’t it?,” he said, adding: “It’s one of the places, as a rugby player growing up in New Zealand, when you’re getting up in the middle of the night, Twickenham and All Blacks matches (there) over the years, there have been some epic battles.”
October proved a memorable time for New Zealand sport.
Emirates Team New Zealand retained sailing’s America’s Cup, while in cricket the men’s side enjoyed their first Test series win in India, with the women’s team lifting the T20 World Cup and the netballers defeating world champions Australia.
“You are extremely proud when you see the country at the bottom of the world punching like that,” said Robertson. “We draw on it, we’re aware of it, we celebrate it as well. It’s something that will inspire us.”
Beauden Barrett will start for New Zealand on Saturday, lining up alongside brother Jordie in a fly-half/inside centre partnership for the first time in a Test.
Damian McKenzie, No 10 for much of this year, is on the bench.
“I’d like to think we’re a good combination and that we can trust each other,” said Jordie, returning after six weeks out with a knee injury to a side captained by another Barrett brother in Scott, the second row.
England, praised for an increasingly attacking style under coach Steve Borthwick, are eager to turn a series of narrow defeats since the start of the 2023 World Cup, including losses to France and South Africa, into wins.
Maro Itoje, who will surpass 2003 World Cup-winning captain and fellow lock Martin Johnson’s tally of 84 England caps on Saturday, said: “The big thing is not just about racking up caps, racking up appearances for England.
“What Martin Johnson did was win. He won Six Nations, big games against southern-hemisphere teams. While I’ve also done that in my career, there’s more to come.”
Borthwick has selected Henry Slade even though the centre has played less than an hour this season after shoulder surgery, while an injury to scrum-half Alex Mitchell has led to a first Test start for Ben Spencer.
Criticism of the haka, the Maori ritual dance performed by New Zealand before kick-off, has become a common feature of the build-up to their matches against England with Red Rose prop Joe Marler — not even playing on Saturday — saying this week it “needs binning”.
But England captain Jamie George, who said Marler had “prodded the bear”, disagreed, with the hooker insisting: “I love the history of it…It’s a brilliant part of the game and a great spectacle.”
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