England's skipper has warned that Steve Borthwick's side should steer clear of being overwhelmed by the All Blacks' legendary status if they aim to secure their maiden home triumph over the Kiwis in 13 years this weekend.
Steve Borthwick has received a welcome lift with Elliot Daly recovering from injury and in contention for his first appearance since suffering an arm fracture on Lions duty, while the full-back and Tom Roebuck featured in the expanded group announced on the weekend.
The home side will welcome the All Blacks after stretching their unbeaten run to nine games with a commanding comfortable victory over Fiji, again pulling away in the final quarter. Their current form marks a dramatic shift from a year ago, when the team suffered multiple losses in seven outings, all by narrow margins. Three of those defeats were inflicted by New Zealand—during the overseas tour and a tight loss at Twickenham after George Ford missed late goal attempts.
The All Blacks just defeated the Scots on the weekend to maintain aspirations of a clean sweep intact, and while the Springboks cemented their number one spot, George has hailed the All Blacks as “arguably the top team in the world.”
In the previous 11 meetings, England's only victory over the All Blacks was during the global tournament semi, and the visitors remain unbeaten in the recent clashes at England's home ground.
“What a lot of teams do is stand in admiration of the All Blacks with their legacy and all their world-class talent,” said the experienced hooker. “It’s tempting to do that. I have done it in the past. We’ve also got to be aware we’ll be playing at Allianz Stadium. It’s an honour to be playing here. We are going to do all we can to win that game.
“You have to be at your peak. The All Blacks are without doubt the strongest team in the world right now. They’re an exceptionally skilled squad and they seem to raise a level when they come to this stadium. The important thing for us is is identify where we could have been better in the first half last time. But also, have a defined strategy which can apply as much stress as we are able to. By doing so, we’ll create a opportunity.
“We came under a lot of criticism last year for not emerging on the right side of tight games and not figuring out how to win. Now, we’re doing the complete reverse. By no means have we solved everything. But we’ve put a strong focus on the latter stages of games and closing games out. Scoring however many tries in the last quarter of the match is a mark of a quality team.”
Borthwick is again expected to make a number of adjustments to his side, with captain Maro Itoje, Tom Curry, and Ford all set to return to the first XV. Tommy Freeman and the newcomer both took knocks against Fiji but have been selected in the squad getting ready to face New Zealand.
“We aim to challenge ourselves against the best teams and [New Zealand] are one of those best teams,” said Borthwick. “Our team is youthful, we’re evolving, I think we’re growing quickly and we’re eager to learn. So I’m sure next week’s going to be a valuable assessment for us.”
Ben Earl, meanwhile, thinks that the team's current capacity to pull clear in the closing stages of matches owes much to their three narrow defeats by the All Blacks last year. “It leaves you seasoned, you feel like you’ve got the wounds, you’ve got the experience to build on those losses, and they hurt at the time,” said the back-rower, who was named player of the game against the Fijians. “But I wonder to a man in the changing room, would we have changed our path now, with the success that we’re now experiencing? I’d be interested to know because I think they’re extremely valuable lessons.”
