Preview: England v New Zealand

The All Blacks will be looking for their fourth victory over England this year when the two sides meet at Twickenham on Saturday.

New Zealand whitewashed Stuart Lancaster's team on home turf in June, and will be aiming for their fifth straight victory over them this weekend.

The visitors are coming off yet another successful Rugby Championship campaign which they followed up with a demolition of the United States in front of a sold-out crowd in Chicago, whilst for England it will be the first game of a new season.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen decided not to risk Dan Carter, who made his return to the Test arena in the last 30 minutes against the USA last week.

Aaron Cruden starts at flyhalf alongside his former Chiefs teammate Sonny Bill Williams in what is otherwise a very settled team which should ask some tough questions of a depleted England side.

England have Fijian-born British army lance corporal Semesa Rokoduguni making his debut on the wing, whilst South African-born Brad Barritt partners Kyle Eastmond in midfield.

England captain Chris Robshaw underlined the scale of the challenge facing his side by saying there was "no hiding place" against the world champions.

Robshaw does know what it feels like to defeat the All Blacks having led England to their dramatic 38-21 win at Twickenham in 2012 – just one of seven Red Rose victories over New Zealand in 39 Tests and the best result of coach Stuart Lancaster's more than two years in charge.

"There's no hiding place. We're not going into this game to come out second best," Robshaw said.

"You can't stand off these guys for a second. It's about us putting our game out there.

"You have to defend extremely well and take your chances – there is no magic formula to beating them.

"In international rugby you know you're going to get a couple of chances, but in international rugby, when everything is flying around, are we good enough to take our chances?.

"As an England squad that's the next step we need to take if we really want to push ourselves up there.

"We need to be as clinical as these guys coming to town this weekend. They are the benchmark of world rugby."

The England captain said that although they lost every Test in New Zealand earlier this year, they felt that they were not far off the pace and could come out on top at home.

"We felt we were unlucky on tour in New Zealand in the summer. We didn't get what we wanted (England lost the series 3-0), but there were a huge amount of positives we've brought back here.

"We felt we got quite close in some ways in the summer and we think we excelled in certain areas so we see that our side can hurt them," he added.

New Zealand will be followed to Twickenham this month by South Africa, the tough-tackling Samoa and Australia for what promises to be a gruelling challenge for England.

And Robshaw is well aware of how much a win at Twickenham for any of the southern hemisphere quartet would mean to them less than a year out from the 2015 World Cup.

"With the World Cup at Twickenham, they all want to come here and play well. We want the opposite – we want it to be a fortress," Robshaw said.

"We want the atmosphere to be similar to the last two games here, against Wales and Ireland, and the performance to be similar to them also.

"There's a lot of talk about next year and of course this is the last time we will play each other prior to that.

"We're at home and we want to show the crowd we've come a long way in the last year."

Players to watch:

For New Zealand: Both wings can be devastating when given space, and in midfield there is the combination of experienced Conrad Smith and the explosive Sonny Bill Williams. Kieran Read will get over the gainline and Richie McCaw will make life difficult for England at the breakdown. Lock Brodie Retallick will provide grunt in the tight exchanges and hooker Dane Coles will thrive if given a chance to run.

For England: Fullback Mike Brown is one of their most dangerous attacking players and Brad Barritt will be a rock on defence as usual. Owen Farrell will look to control the game with his boot and Danny Care will pose a threat around the fringes. Tom Wood and Billy Vunipola will take the game to the All Blacks whilst Courtney Lawes and David Marler will be key men in the set-pieces.

Head to head: Mike Brown and Israel Dagg will both look to spark something from the back and in midfield the inexperienced Kyle Eastmond will have his hands full up against Sonny Bill Williams. Scrumhalves Danny Care and Aaron Smith will both look to threaten using their pace and provide quick ball for Aaron Cruden and Owen Farrell. Captains Richie McCaw and Chris Robshaw will battle for the ball on the ground and their should be some massive collisions involving No.8s Kieran Read and Billy Vunipola.

Recent results:

2014: New Zealand won 36-13, Hamilton

2014: New Zealand won 28-27, Dunedin

2014: New Zealand won 20-25, Auckland

2013: New Zealand won 30-22, London

2012: England won 38-21, London

2010: New Zealand won 26-16, London

2009: New Zealand won 19-6, London

2008: New Zealand won 32-6, London

2008: New Zealand won 44-12, Christchurch

2008: New Zealand won 37-20, Auckland

Prediction: England can never be written off at Twickenham, but this All Blacks side should have enough class and experience to win by about 10 points.

Teams:

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.  

Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Kieran Brookes, 19 George Kruis, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 George Ford, 23 Anthony Watson.

New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Liam Messam, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ryan Crotty.

Date: Saturday, November 8

Venue: Twickenham, London

Kick-off: 14.30 (14.30 GMT; 03.30, Sunday, November 9 NZ time)

Predicted weather: Overcast with 80% chance of rain, high of 13, wind of 25 kph

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

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