All Blacks 'arguably the best team in the world'
SPOTLIGHT: Jamie George has urged England to play the team rather than the reputation when they face rugby superpower New Zealand at Twickenham.
The November 15 clash is the centrepiece of England’s Nations Series campaign as they chase a first win over the All Blacks since a memorable 19-7 success in a 2019 World Cup semifinal in Japan.
But the fact remains, New Zealand, as has been the case with so many of their opponents, have dominated the fixture, winning 36 of 46 Tests, with two draws, in 120 years of matches against England.
England will, however, bid for a first win over New Zealand at Twickenham since 2012, buoyed by a 38-18 defeat of Fiji on Saturday that marked their ninth straight victory against all opponents.
Hours earlier, New Zealand squandered a 17-0 half-time lead at Murrayfield as Scotland fought back to 17-17 before the All Blacks prevailed 25-17.
“A lot of teams sit back in awe of the All Blacks and their incredible history and their incredible players,” said former skipper George, who came off the bench to score one of England’s six tries against Fiji.
“It’s easy to do that and I’ve done that in the past,” the Saracens hooker admitted.
“We’ve also got to be very aware that we’re back here at Allianz Stadium [Twickenham]. We’re very proud of playing here and we are going to do everything we can to win.”
World champions South Africa may have just retained their southern hemisphere Rugby Championship title but George is in no doubt of New Zealand’s quality.
“You’ve got to be at your best because they’re not just another team,” he said. “They are arguably the best team in the world at the minute. They’ve got world-class players.”
George added: “We’ve got to come up with a clear game-plan that’s going to put them under as much pressure as possible and then go out and execute it perfectly because that’s what we’ll need to do to win.”
England’s winning streak is a sharp upturn after seven defeats in 11 games in 2024, including five in a row and three in succession at Twickenham.
They also lost three Tests against New Zealand last year, albeit by a combined deficit of just 10 points.
‘Next level’ Arundell
Steve Borthwick is set to name his side on Thursday, with one of the decisions confronting the England coach concerning whether he starts Henry Arundell.
The Bath wing, like George, made a notable impact off the bench, albeit with a searing burst of acceleration that led to a 69th-minute try that finally gave England a measure of control against a competitive Fiji team.
The 23-year-old was the first to reach Marcus Smith’s grubber-kick, outpacing two flying Fijians in Kalaveti Ravouvou and Sireli Maqala before prodding the ball ahead and touching down.
England scrumhalf Alex Mitchell, no slouch himself, said: “It was crazy and we see it in training every week. It just makes everyone else look really slow. Marcus and the Fiji boys are rapid as well, but Henry’s at the next level.”
