Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is regarded by many as the best fullback in the world. Photo / Getty Images
The Kiwis face their moment of truth tomorrow in London.
At the same site where so many Olympic dreams came true - and were crushed - in 2012, the New Zealand side must find a way to level the series.
There are no ifs, not buts, no maybes.
Win and they are back in the hunt for an elusive series win on English soil. Lose and history will not judge them kindly.
The Kiwis have always struggled over here, that's nothing new. There have been eight tours since 1971 - with a three test series - and only twice have the visitors prevailed. In 1971, with Lory Blanchard's all conquering team (2-1) and Frank Endacott's excellent squad of 1998 (2-0, with the final game drawn).
But they have almost always taken the series to a final game. Even the 1989 team coached by Tony Gordon, and the 2002 squad guided by Gary Freeman (neither of which were regarded as great Kiwis teams) won one of the first two tests to force a decider.
Only twice in the past 45 years has a Kiwi touring side dropped the first two games, and hence the series.
The first was in 1993, under Howie Tamati, a team affected by injuries but also with no alignment between the coaching staff and the playing group. The second time was in 2007, in the tumultuous trip under Gary Kemble.
Stephen Kearney's team don't belong in that sort of company. Sure they are missing several key players but it is still a strong squad, with some players among the best in the world in their positions (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Jesse Bromwich, Issac Luke) and many proven NRL performers.
Tomorrow is also a vital test for the Kearney-David Kidwell combination. Since they came together after the 2013 World Cup, they have passed every hurdle thrown at them.
Their Kiwis side was competitive against Australia in the 2014 Anzac test, then embarked on a five match unbeaten run until last week in Hull.
The duo have something to prove, and the changes on the bench indicate they opted for too many rookies last week.
There are signs of hope. The Kiwis were nave in their ruck defending last week, and won't allow England so much latitude around the play the ball area tomorrow.
They'll also be better for the run, both in terms of conditioning and combinations (especially Peta Hiku and Tui Lolohea).
Their forward pack will be out to make amends after being outplayed and the small slices of fortune that England enjoyed may tip back the other way. And the Kiwis might even take some confidence from their defensive effort; despite a mountain of pressure and territory in the first 30 minutes of the second half, England only crossed their try line once.
The refereeing will also be vital.
The Kiwis struggled to adapt to English whistler Ben Thaler and should be much more comfortable with an NRL referee (Gerard Sutton).
Whether all that will be enough to overcome the obvious New Zealand shortcomings - experience in the spine, combinations in the halves, general kicking game and goal kicking - remains to be seen but it's certain the Kiwis will give a much better account of themselves.
They simply have to.
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