England will need to put on a much-improved showing if they are to outdo New Zealand when the sides meet at Twickenham on Saturday, writes Shaun Goosen.
England v New Zealand
10 November 17h00
Twickenham Stadium, London
To Win (80 mins)
England 5/1
Draw 30/1
New Zealand 1/8
Handicap
England (+14) 9/10
New Zealand (-14) 9/10
While Eddie Jones’ men did claim a controversial 12-11 win over South Africa on the weekend, the Test match was marred by a plethora of errors from both teams. The Red Roses, missing a host of key personnel, particularly struggled to deal with the robustness of the Springbok pack and were lucky not to be down by more than two points at the halftime interval.
The All Blacks coaching staff opted to rest the majority of their first team during their 69-31 victory over the Brave Blossoms of Japan on Saturday. Their returning players will be refreshed ahead of the weekend, and their pack will be raring to tear into this lightweight bunch of English forwards.
Key for England will be restricting the New Zealanders’ impact in the opening quarter. If the AB’s get too far ahead early on, it could spell major danger for the men in white and the emphasis may then fall on damage limitation rather than sticking to any potentially match-winning formula.
The 2003 world champions may well look to spoil New Zealand ball at the breakdown to slow down the contest, particularly in the continued absence of the injured Sam Cane. Nevertheless, a similarly bleak showing at scrum time will negate any premeditated plans for England. They simply must front up.
With no rain expected, Beauden Barrett and his backline troops will look to put on a show for the fans up north, but only after establishing some daylight between them and their hosts. Considering they conceded as many as 12-penalties in total against the Boks, Barrett can expect more than a few opportunities to take some shots at goal.
Verdict: New Zealand (-14) 9/10 *forecast handicaps
In what should be a pretty standard win for the men from the land of the long white cloud, back the All Blacks to better England by at least 14-points.
