England vs. New Zealand Preview
20th November, 2009
England gets ready to face the might of New Zealand on Saturday at Twickenham and a much better performance than the one against Argentina last week is needed if they are to challenge the formidable Kiwis.
England did defeat the Argentines 16-9, however Martin Johnson’s men were heavily criticised for the way they have played. However Johnson has publicly defended his players and told BBC Sport "You can't deny the pressure is there but you deal with it. We won against Argentina and dug ourselves out of a hole to beat a team that is ranked fourth in the world."
Johnson will make three changes to his team, as Ayoola Erinle the Biarritz centre will replace Northampton's Shane Geraghty. Wasps lock Simon Shaw shall be in the second row at the expense of Louis Deacon and Tom Croft will play on the blind-side flank instead of Joe Worsley. The three men who have been replaced shall drop to the substitute’s bench.
England has not defeated the All Blacks since 2003 and has lost their last seven test matches against them. Johnny Wilkinson has warned his team mates that they will have to be versatile and disciplined if they are to cause an upset. He told Sky Sports, “You have to react hard. You have to push yourself. You have to accept it will be fast and frantic and tough. They are full of world-class players and you cannot switch off.”
To win the test match England is 7/1 while New Zealand is 1/7 with Sportingbet. The draw is 40/1 with Boylesports.
By Dane
