England's skipper has warned that Steve Borthwick's side must avoid being intimidated by the All Blacks' legendary status if they aim to achieve their first home victory over the Kiwis in over a decade this weekend.
Squad Boost Ahead of Pivotal Clash
England's head coach has received a welcome boost with the versatile back recovering from injury and in contention for his first appearance since sustaining an arm fracture on Lions tour, while Freddie Steward and the wing featured in the 37-man squad announced on the weekend.
Current Form Differs with Past Struggles
England host the All Blacks after extending their winning streak to nine matches with a decisive 38-18 victory over the Pacific Islanders, again pulling away in the final quarter. This strong run marks a dramatic shift from 12 months back, when the team suffered six defeats in seven matches, all by narrow margins. A trio of these defeats came against New Zealand—during the overseas tour and a tight loss at home after George Ford failed with late goal attempts.
New Zealand just defeated Scotland on the weekend to maintain aspirations of a home nations grand slam intact, and while the Springboks cemented their number one spot, the captain described New Zealand as “arguably the top team in the world.”
Of the last 11 encounters, England's sole win over the All Blacks was during the global tournament semi, and the visitors remain unbeaten in the recent fixtures at England's home ground.
George's Insight on Facing the All Blacks
“What a lot of teams do is sit back in awe of New Zealand with their history and all their incredible players,” stated the experienced hooker. “It’s easy to do that. I’ve probably done it before. We must remember we’ll be playing at Allianz Stadium. We’re very proud to be playing here. We are going to do all we can to come out on top.
“It’s vital to be at your peak. New Zealand are without doubt the strongest team in the world at the minute. They are a unbelievably fantastic team and they appear to raise a gear when they visit this stadium. Our focus for us is is identify where we could have been better in the first half this week. Additionally, develop a defined strategy which can put them under as much pressure as we are able to. If we do that, we’ll create a chance.
“We came under a lot of criticism last year for not emerging on the right side of close contests and not figuring out how to win. Currently, we’re doing the complete reverse. By no means have we cracked it. But we’ve placed a strong focus on the final phases of games and finishing strongly. Notching multiple tries in the last quarter of that game is a sign of a good team.”
Borthwick's View and Team Changes
Borthwick is likely to make a several adjustments to his lineup, with captain the lock, Tom Curry, and Ford all set to return to the first XV. Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso both took knocks against Fiji but have been selected in the group preparing to face the All Blacks.
“We want to test our mettle against the best teams and [New Zealand] are among best teams,” said the head coach. “We’re a young side, we’re developing, I think we’re improving rapidly and we’re eager to learn. So I’m sure next week’s will be a valuable assessment for us.”
The Star's Take on Progress
The number eight, in addition, believes that the team's present capacity to break away in the closing stages of games owes much to their triple close losses by New Zealand last year. “It leaves you battle-hardened, you feel like you’ve been through battles, you’ve developed the experience to build on those losses, and they hurt at the time,” said the back-rower, who was named man of the match against the Fijians. “But I question to a man in the dressing room, would we have changed our path now, with the success that we’re sometimes experiencing? I’d be interested to know because I think they’re extremely valuable lessons.”
