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Jamie George has warned that England must not be seduced by the All Blacks’ mystique if they are to clinch a first Twickenham victory over New Zealand in 13 years on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick has been boosted before the toughest assignment of England’s autumn campaign with the return to fitness of Elliot Daly, who could make his first appearance since fracturing an arm on British & Irish Lions duty, while Freddie Steward and Tom Roebuck were also named in Sunday night’s 37-man squad.
England will host the All Blacks after extending their winning run to nine matches against Fiji, again romping clear in the final quarter, chalking up a 38-18 victory over the Pacific Islanders. Their current form is in stark contrast to 12 months ago when England were mired in a run of six defeats in seven matches, all by narrow margins. Three of those losses were inflicted by New Zealand – two on the 2024 summer tour before a 24-22 reverse at Twickenham after George Ford missed two late kicks at goal.
New Zealand edged out Scotland on Saturday to keep hopes of a home nations grand slam alive and though the Springboks cemented their spot at the top of the rankings, George has heralded the All Blacks as “arguably the best side in the world”. Of the last 11 meetings, England’s only victory over New Zealand came in the 2019 World Cup semi-final and the All Blacks have not been beaten in the last five encounters at Twickenham.
“What a lot of teams do is sit back in awe of the All Blacks with their history and all their incredible players,” said former captain George. “It’s easy to do that. I’ve probably done it in the past. We’ve also got to be aware we’ll be back here at Allianz Stadium. We’re very proud to be playing here. We are going to do everything we can to win that game.
“You have to be at your best. New Zealand are arguably the best side in the world at the minute. They’re an unbelievably fantastic team and they seem to step up a gear when they come to Allianz Stadium. The important thing for us to do is work out where we could have been better in the first half this week. But also have a clear gameplan which can put them under as much pressure as we possibly can. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.
“We came under a bit of heat 12 months ago for not coming out on the right side of tight games and not finding a way to win. Now, we’re doing the exact opposite. By no means have we cracked it. But we’ve placed a big emphasis on the latter stages of games and closing games out. Scoring however many tries in the last quarter of that game is a sign of a good team.”
Borthwick is again expected to make a number of changes to his side with the captain Maro Itoje, Tom Curry and Ford all expected to return to the starting lineup. Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso were both in the wars against Fiji but both have been selected in the squad preparing to face the All Blacks.
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“We want to challenge ourselves against the best teams and [New Zealand] are one of those best teams,” said Borthwick. “We’re a young side, we’re developing, I think we’re growing quickly and we’re keen to learn. So I’m sure next week’s going to be a great assessment for us.”
Ben Earl, meanwhile, believes England’s current ability to pull clear in the closing stages of matches owes much to their three narrow defeats by New Zealand last year. “You feel battle-hardened, you feel like you’ve got the wounds, you’ve got the scar tissue to learn from those losses, and they hurt at the time,” said Earl, who was named man of the match against Fiji. But I wonder to a man in the changing room, would we have changed our journey now, with the joy that we’re sometimes enjoying now? I’d be interested to know because I think they’re very, very valuable lessons.”
