In-form All Blacks looking to whitewash England in New Zealand

Considering their muddled buildup and the quality of their opponents, it is difficult to pinpoint what would constitute a success for England on their tour of New Zealand. The history books will record a series won or lost but, as Stuart Lancaster’s project continues to evolve before the World Cup, there are less tangible factors to consider. The development of combinations and the sternest test yet of the credentials of a number of green buds may pay dividends in 15 months’ time, even if they do not bloom immediately.

For the All Blacks it is an entirely different story. When you are the world champions, coming off the professional era’s first unbeaten year – a perfect 14 from 14 in 2013 – and have not lost at home in 30 matches or at Auckland’s Eden Park, venue for the first Test, in almost 20 years, defeats do not rub. For the public, press and players, expectation matches confidence: it is 3-0 or bust.

And with good reason. After a sluggish start to the season, the Kiwi teams have hit their Super Rugby straps and Steve Hansen’s squad is brimming with experienced, in-form players, with depth in almost every department. Richie McCaw, Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu and Ma’a Nonu have nearly 50 more caps between them than England’s 31-man advance party for the first Test.

With Beauden Barrett in simply sumptuous form and Aaron Cruden back from injury, the sabbatical-enforced absence of Dan Carter, who has sat out 19 of 40 Tests in the past three years due to a cocktail of injuries, does not pose the problems it did in 2011.

“Aaron Cruden has proved that he has what it takes at Test level”, says Craig Dowd, who played 60 times for the All Blacks. “He was winning games for the Chiefs until he injured his thumb but in the six weeks he spent out, Barrett has made a huge impression and given the selectors a headache. It’s now important to find out if he’s ready at this level – and he looks it – so I’d expect him to start in Auckland and then, as Cruden’s comeback progresses, he’ll maybe play in the second or third Tests. It’s a headache, but a good problem to have because No10 is a position that you need depth in at the World Cup, as New Zealand discovered last time.”

More pressing, according to Dowd, are the problems at hooker, one of few positions with scant high-class depth. Dane Coles is an impressive incumbent, Mealamu’s ageing body is creaking, while Nathan Harris and Liam Coltman are jostling for debuts.

“Hooker is a problem position as we’ve relied on Andrew Hore and Keven Mealamu for more than a decade and the new guys haven’t really come through. It’s really too early to say whether Coltman or Harris are ready for the top level as they haven’t even been playing Super Rugby for that long. They need to be given time and would have to take their game to a whole new level to thrive for the All Blacks.”

The tourists were the last team to down the All Blacks, and while many in New Zealand take that result with a pinch of salt due to the 24-hour sickness bug suffered by the All Blacks in the week leading up to the game, it was a moment that created a shift in attitude towards the English game. Before crashing his way through their midfield, New Zealand’s last memory of English rugby would have been Manu Tuilagi crashing into Auckland Harbour at the end of their diabolical World Cup of 2011. Thus there is respect for Lancaster’s work on team culture since that low ebb and the positive intent they displayed at Twickenham on that day.

“There’s a huge amount of respect for English rugby here, for the history and especially our forward play,” says Matt Symons, the Chiefs’ English lock, and Dowd is of the same mind. “The brand of rugby is different as England tends to favour a more pack-based game, whereas New Zealand like to throw it around but there’s plenty of respect,” he says. “They’re building a strong side under Lancaster and whatever team ends up being put out it won’t be an easy task. That defeat in 2012 really hurt – the All Blacks didn’t play well, for whatever reason, but England were brilliant and deserved their win.”

For all that respect, the desire to beat England is equally abundant. The former fly-half Andrew Mehrtens used his column this week to explain why he and many other New Zealanders hated losing to their “No1 enemy”. Mehrtens explains that he never hated English players themselves but the “old brigade” of England’s rugby establishment and that rugby isn’t “the people’s sport” had contributed to “a feeling that there had been an element of putting the colonials back in their place”, when England beat the All Blacks 15-9 in 1993.

“England are the team that we just hate losing to,” says Dowd. “That was the case when I was playing and I think it always has been. It’s something deep in the All Blacks psyche.”

Lancaster will not need reminding, but a mighty task lies ahead. The Kiwis are coming for him.

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/10448240/Rugby-League-World-Cup-2013-Watch-out-theres-a-Kangaroo-about.html

In-form All Blacks looking to whitewash England in New Zealand