England v New Zealand

Saturday 21/11/09 - Kick Off 2.30pm Twickenham

Match Preview & Thoughts

 New Zealand - Haka - All Pictures by Empics

And lo it is upon us, our day of reckoning or so some would have you believe. 

On Saturday, England take on New Zealand, the all mighty All Blacks, the Bledisloe Cup holders and the no.1 ranked team in the world. The slayers of the Welsh dragons and the glue makers of the Italian Stallions come to Twickenham on the back of three wins and a good run of form, although this incarnation is no match for previous ones it is none the less a serious proposition. 

England have struggled for fluency this Autumn’ though a good second half against Argentina showed what is possible when England’s forwards have an opportunity to show their off loading game, hopefully we shall see this from the off against a New Zealand team never shy to run the ball. 

England have decided to recall veteran Wasp’s Shaw and Worsley, along with a first start for, former Leicester & Wasp’s, Ayoola Erinle. These additions will no doubt add a great ball carrying and physical element to a side that has lacked vertical penetration so far this autumn. Geraghty returns to the bench, covering fly half, where hopefully he will provide better service than in the last two games where his failure to hold the inside defence has stifled England’s outside backs of ball. He is reunited with Dan Hipkiss who he formed such a successful partnership with last season as they guided Leicester to the League title and a European Cup final.

Joe Worsley

Worsley's recall comes at the expense of an out of sorts Croft, who has failed to hit the heights of last season or the Lions tour evidenced this week with a IRB international player of the year award. Worsley is a hard tackler, with under rated hands, he doesn’t provided Croft’s threats in the line out but the dark arts are seldom appreciated. Shaw comes in for an unfortunate Deacon, who suffers a bad reputation due to the afore mentioned appreciation of the dark arts of the ruck and maul. Shaw is a man mountain and his presence alone could quicken up England’s anaemic speed of ball, whilst his linking play is second to none. 

Among the replacements Mat Tait resumes his 6 Nations role as number 22, and Bath’s David Wilson is fit again after injuring his shoulder/ neck against Australia; why he is only on the bench whilst his club colleague, Duncan Bell, continues is any ones guess. Wilson is superior in all facets, except possible pie eating, whilst Gloucester prop Doran-Jones can count himself hard done by after a good debut. In a unsurprising positional switch Cueto and Monye swap shirts, hopefully allowing England more solidarity under the high ball and also more pace out wide. 

In the New Zealand team Dan Carter returns after a one week ban, for what many will feel was a fair tackle. His tactical kicking, distribution and defence are unmatched among his peers, even the venerated Wilkinson is no longer a match. He will no doubt run the show, given half the chance, so England must restricted the possession he has and the places he has it. 

As good as he is forwards still win matches, and it is this area that England can dominate. It is doubtful if such a weak New Zealand pack has ever travelled to these shores. The great McCaw aside a streak of weakness runs through the pack. Hore is suspect in both the set pieces, with either potential reserve inexperienced and frankly not as good as England’s two options. Kieran Read is no Zinzan Brooke or Buck Shelford, and Hodgson should disrupt him at the base, as an All Black back rower he is formidable in the loose but the English back row has nothing to fear and arguably is better in all positions. The great shame is that injuries have so castrated England’s propping resources the woeful front row of New Zealand will probably not only go unpunished but could dominated Payne and Bell. White, Vickery and Sheridan would make minced meat of them. 

Ma’a Nonu wears 12 and his lack of kicking game should be used to our advantage. In the summer his poor kicking forced all the defensive duties on reserve fly half Donald, with France able to dominate territory and thus win the match. Although Carter is, of course, significantly a better player than Donald this tactic could be well used by England. Any slack kicking by the English team will be pounced upon by an exciting and talented back three of the All Blacks. Muliaina is one of the world’s premier full backs, with power bursts and magic side steps coming from Fijian-cum-New Zealander Sivivatu. Guildford, who sadly lost his farther during the Under 20’s World Cup final, is a good prospect although England may profit from his lack of experience. If there is one area where the All Blacks look worryingly better than their English counter parts it is here. 

I know some fans seek to blame the coaches for what is ultimately the players ineptitude, but this team has the capability to front up and beat the All Blacks. We have the players in the first XV to pin them back in their own half, and the players on the bench to change the game if it is needed. A poor New Zealand team is still a dangerous animal and the England players need to respect them, without being in awe of them. Leicester and Saracens have shown that the SANZAR nations aren’t some untouchable Gods playing on the fields of Mount Olympus, but fallible humans whose weaknesses are there to be exposed if you are willing to put the graft in. England are far from favourites but they can win and I am willing to believe and back them. This could be the first steps on our long walk to regain our crown in Eden Park. 

Key Match ups: 
Woodcock vs Bell & Franks vs Payne 
The front row is always key to the outcome of any game and this is no different. If England can pressurise the New Zealand scrum the flow of penalties and thus territory could be the vital ingredient in an England win. However experienced Woodcock and youngster Franks are no push overs and could well dominate the less than intimidating England pair. 

As with the scrum the line out is vital in denying the opposition a supply of ball, England should be secure on our own ball. It is whether Borthwick, practically on his own with the less mobile Shaw and shorter Worsley at 6, can stem the flow of Kiwi ball. He is a magnificent line out operator but Thorn is agile and the New Zealanders have more options in the back row. It will be closer than could have been had Croft been picked but he will get on and a late foray into the line out could prove vital. 

Nonu vs Hipkiss 
Hipkiss will almost certainly play 12 to Erinle’s 13, whatever their actual numbers are. Neither Nonu nor Hipkiss have kicking games to speak of, which will force pressure on the fly halves especially as neither of the full backs have outstanding boots (c.f. Kearney). However both are strong ball carriers, Nonu more direct Hipkiss favouring the side step. With Smith and Erinle outside them they shouldn’t want for support so how these two use their under rated passing games could be key, both partnerships are honed as club mates (or very recent club mates in England’s case) so should have a better understanding than Hipkiss and Geraghty had. 

England: 15 Cueto (Sale); 14 Banahan (Bath), 13 Hipkiss (Leicester), 12 Erinle (Biarritz),  11 Monye (Harlequins); 10 Wilkinson (Toulon),  9 Hodgson (London Irish); 1 Payne (Wasps), 2 Hartley (Northampton), 3 Bell (Bath), 4 Shaw (Wasps),  5 Borthwick (Saracens, Captain), 6 Worsley (Wasps), 7 Moody (Leicester), 8 Haskell (Stade Français).
Replacements: 16 Thompson (Brive), 17 Wilson (Bath), 18 Deacon (Leicester), 19 Croft (Leicester), 20 Care (Harlequins),21 Geraghty (Northampton), 22 Tait (Sale).

New Zealand All Blacks: 
NZ Team:  1. Tony Woodcock (59 Tests) 2. Andrew Hore (45) 3. Owen Franks (7) 4. Brad Thorn (35) 5. Tom Donnelly (4) 6. Adam Thomson (14) 7. Richie McCaw (78, Captain) 8. Kieran Read (14) 9. Jimmy Cowan (31) 10. Dan Carter (64) 11. Sitiveni Sivivatu (41) 12. Ma’a Nonu (44) 13. Conrad Smith (31) 14. Zac Guildford (1) 15. Mils Muliaina (80) 
Replacements: 16. Corey Flynn (6) / Aled de Malmanche (2) 17. John Afoa (22) 18. Anthony Boric (11) 19. Jerome Kaino (23) 20. Andy Ellis (12) 21. Stephen Donald (28) 22. Tamati Ellison (1)

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