By robmazza
November 4 2010

England v New Zealand - Investec Internationals 2010 - Match Thoughts Preview

Investec Internationals

England v New Zealand

Twickenham

Saturday 6th November 2010 - 2.30pm Kick Off

 Live on Sky Sports 1 & 1HD

This Saturday, England fans will be able to gauge their team’s progress over the last few years, when they face the might of the All Blacks. The autumn internationals are not usually a period in which I normally look forward to in terms of the rugby calendar, but I cannot help but feel a certain expectation and belief in the England camp, that something special is about to happen.

New Zealand's defeat last week will give even more confidence to optimistic England fans who will make their trip to Twickenham, buoyant after their victory down under earlier in the year. Australia showed how England must set-up and play, by varying line outs, keeping McCaw down and out of the game and stretching the defence, asking questions every time they touched the ball. There are no two ways to look at it, Australia were outstanding.

Englands Andrew Sheridan during the training session at Pennyhill Park, Bagshot, Surrey - Picture by Empics

But in England's team, it is hard to see us playing as expansive a game as Australia. With only Ashton, Youngs and Foden capable of producing real star quality. The set piece is certainly an area that we will look to dominate. With Croft and Lawes, the lineout will be very much a strength for England, adding to that, the extra 5 inches that big Andy Sheridan will bring, Kevin Mealamu will have be outstanding throwing wise, if NZ are to nullify England's stealing threat. Another area where Sheridan will be key is in the Scrum, where England has arguably the best scrummaging front row in the World, including the likes of World Cup winner Steve Thompson and Dan Cole who as we all know, does not take a backward step. Up against them are Woodcock, Mealamu and Owen Franks.

England's Steve Thomson during training session at Pennyhill Park, Bagshot, Surrey - Onside Images(C)

A changed New Zealand backline, bring in the relative unknown Alby Mathewson in the place of Jimmy Cowan who is out of the squad all together, at scrum-half. Hosea Gear comes in for the injured Cory Jane on the left wing (Switching Rokocoko to the right wing), who's threat will be highlighted by his sheer destruction of England in a hat-trick and man of the match performance for the Maori earlier this year. Adding to that the introduction of Sonny Bill Williams in place of Conrad Smith (Who I firmly believe to be the worlds best centre), means a lot of changes in a previously settled backline. Without Smith, it is hard to see where NZ will find their invention and create gaps. Nonu and Sonny Bill are very much, crash it up centres, which may very well make sense if their opposite numbers were Ryan Lamb and Gareth Steenson, but in Hape and Tindall, gaps will be very hard to come by. Gear is not up against Strettle this time though, so faces Ashton who can both match him for pace and defensive work. On the other wing, Rokocoko faces Cueto, not everyone's favourite winger, but if he can nullify the threat from wide, NZ are in trouble.

Englands Mark Cueto catches a high ball - Empics

The back-row battle will be the match winner however. Whoever takes it by the scruff of the neck, will come out on top. Kieran Read was the best number 8 around at the Tri-Nations and is a very similar to Jamie Heaslip of Ireland. His battle with Nick Easter is intriguing, very much an old school number 8 in the Quinnell mould. Compared with the newer version Read shaping up with Pace and dynamism. Croft at 6 up against Jerome Kaino is definitely a strength for England. Where Croft is as quick as a winger and Strong as a Centre, Kaino is very much a number 7 playing 6. So often sucked into rucks, trying to do McCaw's work could leave space out wide.

Lewis Moody Captain - Picture Empics

Finally we come to the opensides, number 7, and the world’s best flanker in McCaw, up against mad-dog Moody. Not my ideal selection as I would have loved to see Rees back in at 7, Moody in at 6 and Croft moved to second row instead of Palmer. But in Moody, we have a Captain who will give all he has, all he can give physically to make McCaw’s life hell. In terms of caps McCaw leads the way by a mighty 30, but in terms of experience, Moody may well have the upper hand, having played in teams with Richard Hill, Neil back and Lawrence Dallaglio.

So there we have it, if you look at the England team as a Kiwi, you may suggest we lack ambition and will be shown up to be a mediocre side with average players. But as an England fan, I have to say, we have never had a better opportunity to play an unsettled team coming off the back of a defeat, at home and claim a historic victory.

C'MON ENGLAND

England: B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Tindall (Gloucester), S Hape (Bath), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), S Thompson (Leeds), D Cole (Leicester), C Lawes (Northampton), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Croft (Leicester), L Moody (Bath, capt), N Easter (Harlequins).                                                                                                                                                                      

Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), D Wilson (Bath), D Attwood (Gloucester), H Fourie (Leeds), D Care (Harlequins), C Hodgson (Sale), D Armitage (London Irish).

New Zealand: M Muliaina; J Rokocoko, S B Williams, M Nonu, H Gear; D Carter, A Mathewson; T Woodcock, K Mealamu, O Franks, B Thorn, S Whitelock, J Kaino, R McCaw (Captain) K Read.                                                     

Replacements: H Elliot, B Franks, A Boric, L Messam, A Ellis, S Donald, I Toeava.

Referee: Romain Poite (France).

Assistant referees: Stuart Dickinson (Australia) and David Changleng (Scotland

England v New Zealand Match 6/11/10 Thoughts Preview

Discussion started by Unofficial England Rugby Union , 04/11/2010 17:16

Unofficial England Rugby Union
04/11/2010 17:16

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
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UnofficialEnglandRugby
04/11/2010 17:21

Big Thank you to robmazza for our Match Thoughts Preveiw this weekend against the All Blacks.

So do you agree with rob?

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Patrick
04/11/2010 20:45

Excellent preview robmazza, thanks for that.

Big ask for SBW, a debut outside Nonu against England at Twickenham. What's his defence like? Could have sworn they'd start him at 12 where he plays his rugby with Smith outside. Like your point about Strettle not having to face Gear this time!!

But can we seriously call our front row the best scrummaging unit in the world? Thompson's good, but Sheridan has basically no form this season, and whilst I'm a huge fan of Cole, he's still pretty green, remember Paris? Also how much do we lose out scrummaging-wise without Shaw?

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just_me
05/11/2010 11:45

sonny bill is an athlete! big,very strong and a lot quicker than he looks. the guy was the NRL's biggest hitter.. defence isn't really a problem the tackle ball area is another story though. he's still a work in progress.. but a very promising one. probably played his best game for Canterbury in the number 13 jersey.

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robmaza
05/11/2010 12:19

We all know about Sonny Bill, but the fact is that he is primarily a 12. Up against one of the best defensive centres around in Tindall it won't be easy for him. Adding to that the fact that he is already being compared to Lomu (Not too much pressure) and making his debut away at Twickenham, you shouldnt expect too much too soon.

Patrick, on your point about Cole. You are correct about the scrum against France, however if you remember that he was playing with Hartley and Payne up against Domingo, Mas and Servat, he did do pretty well. I am not calling Cole the finished article by any means, but with Thompson and the Sale Whale alongside him, it is hard to look past them in terms of a scrummaging unit. Shaw is our very own Brad Thorn, but he won't miss him, the scrum will be equal at the very minimum. Also you must bear in mind that Courney Lawes is a powerful lad in the second row too, adding to that the bulk of Palmer, we have got a pretty strong line-up!

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just_me
05/11/2010 19:31

well if Canterbury didn't have Robbie Fruean in their team.. i'd say Sonny Bill would've played a lot more games at 13 rather than 12 matching Sonny Bill against an awkward player like Tindall.. will be a good test for him. we need to know if he is up to it and we need to know now.

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Rarua
06/11/2010 01:03

Smith is carrying a minor injury which gave the excuse to play Williams at 13. He and Nonu are rather too similar for my taste to play them together.

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