KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks should never quibble about England's methods; they use their artillery in a manner which suits them. The All Black focus should be largely on their own methods and getting the most out of it, assistant coach Steve Hansen said yesterday.
Hansen is immersed in the
ongoing process of rotation - not that you'll hear the All Black coaches use that particular term. Nonetheless, the run-on side in Christchurch tomorrow features four personnel changes from last Saturday and two positional switches.
Hansen and Graham Henry would go to great lengths to explain these changes are "offering experience to young players" or "investing in the squad" - anything but "rotation".
England cannot be taken lightly. It only took a glance back to the last World Cup to reinforce Hansen's thinking about the state of the English team, in a tournament where England toiled their way to the final while the All Blacks had been sitting on their backsides for a fortnight.
The All Blacks assistant coach is grateful England have not been able to weld a potent backline to their forwards since that tournament and are struggling with that part of their game in New Zealand.
"I look at England rugby and I look at how they play and how the environment forces them to play," Hansen said. "I look at the quality of some of the backs they've got and I wonder why they don't play more expansively. Having lived up that way, the conditions make it more suitable to play that more physical game. It's just getting that balance."
Hansen singled out wing Topsy Ojo and fullback Mathew Tait as great examples of the danger England presented - players with skill and crucially plenty of pace.
The latest selection, with Toby Flood and Jamie Noon in the five-eighths, presented more substance while the back three can run.
"That bloke they call Topsy, he scored a couple of tries from nothing last week.
"Rob [Andrew] was whingeing a bit about the fact that we got two soft tries. I'd suggest that they scored tries from absolutely nothing through the sheer brilliance of an individual. I don't know how closely you looked at the intercept but not a lot of people would have caught the ball, let alone have the gas to do what he did."
At fullback, Mathew Tait is a strong player, proven in sevens and with a preference to run the ball rather than kick it.
England has chosen an interesting backline which would be guided by Toby Flood who normally plays in midfield and can tackle.
"[Andrew] has picked an interesting side. He's closed a few of the doors, I suppose."
Varndell on the wing is "not pretty quick, he's bloody quick", and it would be unlikely, barring some poor weather, that England would not look to run the ball when possible.
Hansen would not make a judgment on the merits of their play - nearly winning a second World Cup has proved their strengths.
Steve Borthwick, England skipper for the second straight week, said his side was very clear on what they needed to improve on to ensure they got a better result.
The police investigation into some after-match activities by some players had not impacted on the squad and spirits remained high, Borthwick said. Playing the All Blacks kept everyone in the squad focused.
"It is a huge honour every time you pull on the England shirt but ultimately we made too many errors. We need to show that effort again, that courage but also the accuracy within our game. We can improve markedly from where we were," he said.
Borthwick demanded 80 minutes of effort from everybody, strong set pieces and contact at the breakdown with an emphasis on better use of the ball.
"We turned over the ball too much and we ended up playing in the wrong part of the field," he said. "We need to ensure we use the ball better, we have to be as clinical as the All Blacks."
