Advent of the ' All Blacks' 2012


By Kath
November 29 2012

England v New Zealand QBE Int., Pre Match Thoughts







QBE Autumn International

 Twickenham - 1st December 2012 - Kick Off 2.30pm

England v New Zealand

Piri Weepu leads the All Blacks Haka before the Dove Men Series match at the Millennium Stadium, Car

'Advent' and the 'arrival' of the All Blacks at Twickenham, how very apt that they should play on this day. 


Saturday’s clash is the 35th meeting between the two sides. The All Blacks have won on 27 occasions compared to England’s six, with just one draw (26-26 at Twickenham in 1997). 

With just one win in their last five matches, England’s form has taken a hit. Last weekend’s 16-15 loss to South Africa was their second successive loss, with the 54-12 win against Fiji three weeks ago England’s only win since beating Ireland 30-9 during the 2012 Six Nations.

Now in my heart of hearts I do not believe England will win on Saturday but there is always a chance in sport.  But on looking at past stats.,  the odds seem stacked against England.  However, there might just be a ray of hope, New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen says almost all of his squad have suffered with diarrhoea and vomiting this week.  Sorry but I had to laugh when I heard this, no offence meant but is this our chance maybe?

Englands Owen Farrell

England's youngest player Owen Farrell (21 years) starts at Fly Half. - All Pictures Empics

Gloucester Rugbys Freddie Burns evades Leicester Tigers Steve Mafi during the Aviva Premiership matc

Gloucester’s Freddie Burns will make his England debut if he comes off the bench against the All Blacks. Burns won seven caps for England Under 20’s. 


Englands Courtney Lawes (left) and Tom Croft during the training session at Pennyhill Park, Bagshot.  Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) also making his series debut.


England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We asked for a big response from the players after Australia and we got one last Saturday against South Africa, although ultimately we were denied. That frustration has been channelled this week and the whole squad has reacted with a determination to get a victory against the top team in the world.

“We are delighted that Courtney has got an opportunity. He has worked hard to get back in contention and what better game for him to make an impact. The same with Freddie Burns, who has had a great Premiership season so far, and we are looking forward to seeing him contribute should he get his chance.”

Just heard Dan Carter is back ....oh well  let's hope for a good performance if nothing else.  Come on England just give us something to get our teeth into.

 

England: Goode, Ashton, Tuilagi, Barritt, Brown, Farrell, Youngs; Corbisiero, Youngs, Cole, Launchbury, Parling, Wood, Robshaw (captain), Morgan.

Replacements: Paice, Wilson, Vunipola, Lawes, Haskell, Care, Burns, Joseph.

 

New Zealand: Dagg, Jane, Smith, Nonu, Savea, Carter, Smith, Read, McCaw (captain), Messam, Whitelock, Retallick, Franks, Mealamu, Woodcock.

Replacements: Coles, Crockett, Faumuina, Romano, Vito, Weepu, Cruden, Smith.

 



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Advent of the ' All Blacks' 2012
Discussion started by Unofficial England Rugby Union , 29/11/2012 17:48
Unofficial England Rugby Union
29/11/2012 17:48
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PoyntonShark
30/11/2012 00:35
Don't think the return of Carter should make you too despondant Kath. not that he isn't a great player, but Cruden is also quality and in some ways more dangerous than Carter.

I am really hoping for a win, but finding it difficult to picture a scenario where this England team can pull that off. Perversely if England play the way that , I believe, most of us ultimately want to see them play we are likley to be on the worng end of a heavy score, purely because the AB's are much better than us at that style of play. (That style being largely open, intuitive, flowing, many off loads with the occasional show of force from the pack

Unhappiness, where's when I was young
And we didn't give a damn
'Cause we were raised
To see life as a fun and take it if we can

Reply Quote Report
Horowhenua
30/11/2012 19:46
good luck everyone, this is the test match i look forward to the most each year.

Reply Quote Report
DaveAitch
01/12/2012 17:41
Quote:
Horowhenua
good luck everyone, this is the test match i look forward to the most each year.

Well, it's all over now so you don't have to look forward to it for another year.

Reply Quote Report
Rarua
01/12/2012 20:31
Quote:
PoyntonShark
Don't think the return of Carter should make you too despondant Kath. not that he isn't a great player, but Cruden is also quality and in some ways more dangerous than Carter.
I am really hoping for a win, but finding it difficult to picture a scenario where this England team can pull that off. Perversely if England play the way that , I believe, most of us ultimately want to see them play we are likley to be on the worng end of a heavy score, purely because the AB's are much better than us at that style of play. (That style being largely open, intuitive, flowing, many off loads with the occasional show of force from the pack

Well England beat the ABs and played the AB way.

It looked as if Carter was not 100% - he certainly didn't play terribly well.

I don't say this to belittle England's win, they won by playing very well.

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Horowhenua
02/12/2012 03:48
yeah awesome win for England, if you can play like that consistently leading up to the 2015 RWC you will be very hard to beat. Crowd was amazing, must be one of the greatest grounds to watch a game of rugby, cant wait to get there one day.

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PoyntonShark
04/12/2012 05:13
You think we played the AB way? I'm not sure that's entirely true. We did emulate the AB's in making sure we got the basics right and consistent, biggest difference for me between previous games is that we rarely coughed up posession at the critical moment, we maintained posession and thus maintained pressure on the opposition.

I still have some concerns, but for now want to enjoy the victory. I also want to offer thanks to the AB's for not taking the easy option of a couple of excuses that appear ready made for them. When we have finished enjoying the victory we might think about just how much effect those excuses could have had (and then disregard them again and remind every kiwi we can of the result)

Unhappiness, where's when I was young
And we didn't give a damn
'Cause we were raised
To see life as a fun and take it if we can

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Horowhenua
04/12/2012 08:00
What impressed me the most was how you totally took the game away from us, im 32 and cant remember the All Blacks being beaten so emphatically. Your attack was good but I think your defense and work at the breakdown was what won the game.

At the end of the day this win is good for world rugby and shows any team in the top 6 can win on a given day. RWC 2015 is going to be amazing.

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