England's skipper has warned that the team should steer clear of being overwhelmed by New Zealand's formidable reputation if they aim to secure their maiden Twickenham triumph over the Kiwis in over a decade this weekend.
Squad Boost Ahead of Pivotal Fixture
England's head coach got a timely lift with the versatile back recovering from injury and available for his first appearance since sustaining an injury on British & Irish Lions tour, while the full-back and the wing featured in the expanded squad announced on the weekend.
Current Form Contrasts with Past Struggles
The home side host the All Blacks after stretching their unbeaten run to nine matches with a decisive comfortable victory over Fiji, again pulling away in the final quarter. Their current form marks a dramatic shift from a year ago, when England suffered multiple losses in seven matches, all by narrow margins. A trio of these losses were inflicted by New Zealand—two on the overseas tour and a 24-22 loss at Twickenham after George Ford missed late goal attempts.
The All Blacks just defeated Scotland on the weekend to keep aspirations of a home nations grand slam alive, and though South Africa secured their number one ranking, George has hailed the All Blacks as “arguably the top team in the world.”
In the previous 11 encounters, England's sole win over New Zealand came in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, and New Zealand remain unbeaten in the last five fixtures at England's home ground.
The Captain's Perspective on Facing the Kiwis
“What a lot of teams do is sit back in admiration of New Zealand with their history and all their world-class talent,” said former captain George. “It’s tempting to do that. I’ve probably done it in the past. We’ve also got to be aware we’ll be playing at this venue. It’s an honour to be competing at home. We will 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 are a exceptionally skilled squad and they appear to raise a gear when they come to this stadium. Our focus for us to do is identify where we might have improved in the opening period this week. Additionally, develop a defined gameplan which can put them under as much stress as we are able to. If we do that, we’ll create a chance.
“We faced a bit of heat last year for not coming out on the right side of close contests and not finding a way to win. Currently, we’re doing the complete reverse. By no means have we cracked it. But we’ve placed a big emphasis on the latter stages of games and finishing strongly. Scoring multiple tries in the final segment of the match is a mark of a quality team.”
Borthwick's View and Squad Changes
Borthwick is likely to make a number of changes to his side, with skipper Maro Itoje, Tom Curry, and the fly-half all set to be reinstated to the first XV. Tommy Freeman and the newcomer both took knocks against Fiji but both have been included in the group getting ready to take on New Zealand.
“We aim to challenge ourselves against the top sides and [New Zealand] are among elite squads,” said the head coach. “Our team is youthful, we’re developing, I think we’re improving rapidly and we’re keen to learn. So I’m sure the upcoming going to be a great test for us.”
Earl's Take on Progress
Ben Earl, in addition, thinks that the team's present capacity to break away in the closing stages of games owes much to their triple close losses by the All Blacks last year. “It leaves you battle-hardened, you feel like you’ve got the wounds, you’ve developed the experience to learn from those losses, and they stung at the time,” remarked the back-rower, who was awarded man of the match against Fiji. “But I wonder to a man in the dressing room, would we have changed our journey now, with the success that we’re sometimes enjoying? I’d be interested to know because I think they’re extremely priceless lessons.”
