5 key talking points ahead of England’s clash with New Zealand in Auckland
Steve Borthwick has sought to unnerve New Zealand by highlighting the pressure that comes with their remarkable record at Eden Park.
England are aiming to level their series against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday having lost the first Test 16-15.
Here, the TRP examines five talking points heading into a match the All Blacks are strong favourites to win.
Mind games
Taking a leaf out of the book of his predecessor Eddie Jones, Steve Borthwick has sought to unnerve New Zealand by highlighting the pressure that comes with their remarkable record at Eden Park. It has been 30 years and 48 games since they lost at their Auckland stronghold and Borthwick has questioned how the All Blacks will cope with the expectation of defending that unbeaten run. New Zealand boss Scott Robertson has shrugged off Borthwick’s rare venture into the dark arts of pre-match scheming, declaring, “there’s always pressure, it depends how you use it”.
Last hurrah
England wasted a glorious opportunity to triumph on New Zealand soil in the first Test and while that provided their best chance to topple the All Blacks in this series, they showed enough to provide genuine hope for the rematch. New Zealand will be better with their first game since the World Cup final in the bank, but the tourists run out at Eden Park for the final 80 minutes of a mammoth season that began over a year ago. They will empty the tanks knowing that any off-note performances will count against them for selection when the rivals clash again at Twickenham on November 2.
Freddie’s back
The odds of an England win will have lengthened after George Furbank was ruled out on the eve of the second Test by a back injury. Furbank’s absence robs the team of their most dangerous runner from the series opener in Dunedin and while Freddie Steward is a high-quality replacement, he lacks the dynamism in attack shown by his rival for the jersey. Consistency has been a feature of Steward’s 33 caps but with his most recent game taking place almost two months ago, he must get up to speed as quickly as possible.
Samipeni Finau v Chandler Cunningham-South
The All Blacks’ management will have been ruing the one that got away as they watched Cunningham-South submit his opposite number with a rampaging display in the first Test. Cunningham-South was born in Kent but raised in New Zealand until he returned to the UK in search of his chance. The hard-running 21-year-old is now a fixture in England’s back row and in Dunedin he made light of Finau’s reputation as an enforcer. Another thunderous outing at blindside flanker will tighten his grip on the jersey.
Mighty Maro
Maro Itoje was close to his destructive best in the first Test and England will need another big shift from their second row colossus. When he is firing, Itoje is the game’s most disruptive defender at the line-out, maul and breakdown and his spoiling contributions are critical if there is to be an upset. Now over the limit of 2,400 minutes game time imposed on England players for each season, he shows no sign of fatigue and is thriving in his role as captain once Jamie George leaves the field.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.l
