NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND

01.12.2012

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Briefly
The Kiwis will be looking to preserve their amazing record of test rugby results during their traditional November tours to Europe. Their whole game in 2012 has been an amazing run of 12 matches without defeat. It has also been a decade without a loss in Europe. This team is at the peak of its game. Despite the embarrassment of the Andrew Hore incident v Wales I can’t see anything stopping this side,

Will this be Richie McCaw’s last test match for New Zealand? McCaw will begin a six month rest from all rugby after todays rugby test match in which time he will assess where his future lies.

England will want to bounce back from back-to-back defeats at the hands of Australia and South Africa. They will lift their game for the New Zealanders. Their last two games have highlighted weaknesses in the English game and I’m sure they will focus on less errors. It could ne closer than some would think.

Last Five Encounters
06.11.2010 New Zealand 26-16 at Twickenham
29.11.2008 New Zealand 32-6 at Twickenham
21.06.2008 New Zealand 44-12 in Christchurch
14.06.2008 New Zealand 37-20 in Auckland
05.11.2006 New Zealand 41-20 at Twickenham

England last defeated New Zealand back in 2003. Since then it has been nine in a row for the All Blacks. Frankly I can’t see that changing at Twickenham come Saturday evening.

New Zealand Last Five P 5, W 4, D 1
24.11.2012 v Wales W 33-10 in Cardiff
17.11.2012 v Italy W 42-10 in Rome
11.11.2012 v Scotland W 51-22 at Murrayfield
20.10.2012 v Australia D 18-18 in Brisbane (Bledisloe Cup)
06.10.2012 v South Africa W 32-16 in Johannesburg (Rugby Champ.)

England Last Five P 5, W1, D 1, L 3
24.11.2012 v South Africa L15-16 at Twickenham
17.11.2012 v Australia L14-20 at Twickenham
10.11.2012 v Fiji W 54-12 at Twickenham
23.06.2012 v South Africa D 14-14 in Port Elizabeth
16.06.2012 v South Africa L 27-36 in Johannesburg

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-New Zealand 1st, England 9th

IRB Ranking Points
New Zealand 92.91, England 81.07

Prediction: New Zealand by 9 points.

TEAMS


England
15 Alexander Goode, 14 Christopher Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 Michael Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Benjamin Youngs, 8 Benjamin Morgan, 7 Christpher Robshaw, Capt. 6 Thomas Wood, 5 Geoffrey Parling,
4 Joseph Launchbury, 3 Daniel Cole, 2 Thomas Youngs, 1 Alexander Corbisiero.
Replacements
16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes,
20 James Haskell, 21 Daniel Care, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
Head Coach: Stuart Lancaster

New Zealand
15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richard McCaw, Capt. 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charles Faumunia,
19 Luke Romano, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Ben Smith.
Head Coach: Steven Hansen