KEY POINTS:
The e-mail carrying some warnings from Craig Dowd reinforced All Black coach Graham Henry's thoughts about England.
Finer details of the correspondence remain with Henry but the gist is that the All Blacks can't afford to underestimate England even if the visitors have lost some hardcore players and are travelling downunder at the fag end of their season.
As an informant, Dowd comes with the recommendation of seven seasons as a prop then forwards coach with Wasps in the English club premiership, an association which was only broken this year when he returned to New Zealand to work in a development role for North Harbour.
"The All Blacks need to be very cautious of the England scrum," said Dowd whose 58 tests and wide knowledge of the English rugby scene meant Henry listened to his warnings.
"Andy Sheridan is the key, an absolute colossus and each time we have played them Carl Hayman has done really well against him. Now he is not there I would be really worried if I was [scrum coach] Mike Cron. England will try and strike from set piece - that will be their game.
"Young Dylan Hartley, the Kiwi hooker, is built powerfully and Matt Stevens gets better all the time as the other prop."
Dowd said he was particularly excited by the talent in the England loose forwards, especially Tom Rees and James Haskell from his old Wasps club who were genuine international quality.
"Usually these tests with the All Blacks are so one-sided but I think these will be real test matches against England. They will kick for the corners and rely on their forwards but it won't be their old, tired driving play, it will be far more dynamic," Dowd predicted. "England will be much more vigorous up front than Ireland were at the weekend."
Dowd's predictions were at odds with those of former All Black captain David Kirk who, in a column in the Telegraph, suggested difficult times for the tourists.
"It is highly likely England will do worse than Ireland," he wrote. "Not since Martin Johnson led a full-strength team to Australia and New Zealand before the 2003 World Cup, have England had any success in this part of the world. And, judging by performances in the Six Nations, that is not about to change any time soon."
Henry was relieved with the 21-11 victory to start the season as he gave credit to his rearranged test pack in a match he described as a lottery.
"You always fear you might lose it," Henry acknowledged. "But the boys hung in, they showed character to get through it and dominated up front so they deserved to win the game.
"For the forwards it was a good workout but for the backs it was a challenge of survival in the conditions."
The pack had shown a great attitude and ability to soak up critical information after just three training runs together. They certainly hoped to improve again this week, and would need to, as they built towards the first of two confrontations with England at Eden Park.
"He [Dowd] said 'don't take England lightly' and that they have a very good England side coming," Henry revealed after the polar test in Wellington.
Senior All Black prop Tony Woodock is still unavailable while John Afoa has damaged his right knee with Ben Franks called into the squad as back up. Halfback Brendon Leonard is not expected to be fit until the second test against England.
However on Saturday, Neemia Tialata answered the problems by scrumming solidly at both loose and tighthead when he swapped to cover for Afoa. His contribution was a huge bonus after a slow Super 14 season complicated by injury and suspension.
"I thought he scrummed superbly," Henry said, "and he carried the ball well."
Dreadful conditions meant the game stayed close to Tialata so that had been an advantage for the man who seems the most capable prop in New Zealand to cover both sides of the scrum.
