The last England team to have beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand were variously described as grotesque “gargoyles” who had small children “wetting their beds for weeks” and most memorably in Lord of the Rings country as “white orcs on steroids”.
These were compliments by the way. Respect tends to be hard earned and grudgingly given.
But Steve Borthwick’s England team have landed in New Zealand at a time when the tectonic plates are shifting in the Land of the Long White Cloud. There is a new coach in Scott Robertson, a new captain in Scott Barrett and a new apprehensiveness about the usually cocksure All Blacks.
So instead of disregard and disdain – ten years ago Brodie Retallick could not name a single England player – the All Blacks are now taking to killing England with kindness ahead of the opening Test in Dunedin on Saturday. In contrast to the gargoyles of 2003, Scott Hansen, the assistant New Zealand coach, took to repeatedly calling England “beautiful”.
“They are a very, very good team,” Hansen said. “Balanced across the board and they have dominance in their forward pack in terms of their physicality but also their pressure game and their aerial attack. I really enjoyed watching them maturing during the Six Nations, in particular in the Irish and French games they showed a beautiful style of rugby.”
On the likely half back pairing of Alex Mitchell and Marcus Smith, Hansen, who is no relation to the former head coach Steve, added: “Marcus Smith is an attacking influence who sees the field and wants to attack it with ball in hand. He has those beautiful skills around turning a team around early. He is a very classy young 10 and we are excited to be in front of him.
“They are very dangerous near the line with their athletic ability. I am really impressed with the English attack and the 9 and 10 govern a lot of that. We need to have a high alertness around them and we have to have the ability to know where they are.”
The All Blacks remain the bookmakers’ favourites. After all, that 2003 victory was only the second ever by an English team on New Zealand soil.
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