England have enough 'muscle' for ABs
England believe they have the muscle-power to unsettle the New Zealand pack and lay the platform for a rare win over the All Blacks.
Despite the absence of their 'enforcer' Joe Launchbury, the English feel they have a few other big men that can intimidate the world's top-ranked team.
Courtney Lawes, who made his international debut as a replacement during a 9-18 defeat to Australia back in 2009, is backing the youngsters in the squad to deliver the required intensity at Twickenham on Saturday.
Injuries have limited the athletic 25-year-old lock to just 32 caps in five years, but his calm demeanour hints at a man who is palpably aware of the Test arena's demands.
Indeed, though Lawes will face the world champion All Blacks without Launchbury – alongside whom he has forged a world-class engine-room partnership over the past 18 months – there is no alarm whatsoever.
Instead, ahead of Saturday's opening year-end Test against New Zealand, Stuart Lancaster's senior second row stalwart says any of Dave Attwood, George Kruis or Graham Kitchener could excel as part of a fiercely motivated England side.
"Joe [Launchbury] has been great and is such a young talent," Lawes said.
"It's a shame he'll miss the year-end Tests, but he'll get plenty more caps, no doubt about that. It's about recovery for him now and coming back as strong as he can.
"Both Dave [Attwood] and George [Kruis] are brilliant.
"They're big guys and they're in good form.
"Having Dave alongside me in the row has always been a big help, especially in the line-out. I'm appreciative for that and I think we could go well.
"As a squad, we feel confident. Last week was a really good week in training and we're heading into this one full of energy, looking to take it to them."
Steve Hansen's charges warmed up for their Twickenham trip with a 74-6 thrashing of the USA in Chicago, a game that showcased some of their clinical firepower with ball in hand.
Having faced New Zealand five times, including three of England's current run of four consecutive losses in the fixture, Lawes was in a good position to offer an honest assessment of how the hosts could repeat their famous feat of 2012 and secure victory.
Their 0-3 series whitewash to New Zealand in June demonstrated the All Blacks prey on mistakes to build irresistible impetus.
For Lawes, the key is to starve them of any foothold whatsoever.
"They always have a period during the game when they front up and come at you very hard," he said. "It's about matching that head-on.
"When they are trying to run over us and physically dominate us, we need to get back on that front foot.
"That might be a case of just plugging the corners and making sure they don't get any momentum."
