Wynne Gray: Hoping for a stern English test

Ma'a Monu of the All Blacks runs with the ball during an All Blacks training session in London. Photo / Getty Images

I hope England go well tomorrow at Twickers.

Say that again. What's your problem?

The list of 10 rugby commandments starts and ends with "do not lose to England" especially at the ole cabbage patch in London's southwest.

Crowds there support England with unsullied passion, no matter the result. Fair enough, but some who write and commentate about the game also take a similar Stevie Wonder view.

That can be nauseating while defeat at Twickers can create similar maladies. In the last two decades the All Blacks have hit the bile bucket with two defeats and a draw at Twickers.

However they have won the last four contests there, usually with too much ease for any to be memorable.

There has been an uncomfortable lack of bite from the Bulldog (sorry no Joel Monaghan jokes), the sort of here-we-go-again feeling which has accompanied end-of-year results in the Graham Henry era.

The All Blacks have been too good, too organised and too sharp even at the end of their long season for their European foes.

But defeat last week against the Convicts in Hong Kong has given another edge to this trip. After 21 offshore wins in their end-of-year excursions, the All Blacks tripped up.

Sure they will probably claim another Grand Slam title, but at least the heat has moved up a notch from the simmer level under the All Blacks for tomorrow's start to that quest.

For too long, outside the World Cup stutters, the All Blacks have faced consistent inquiries from their Tri-Nations foes and a lack of clout from the Six Nations.

I hope that changes tomorrow. I want the To-and-Froms to challenge the All Blacks, to show there is another way to play the oval game and succeed. Not to the point of getting a W after their name, but to exhibit an alternate style and show they can hang tough.

England do not need to play helter-skelter rugby or get sucked into something similar as their 1991 predecessors did when they fell to the Wallabies in the World Cup decider. They need to play to their strengths and use that template to challenge the All Blacks on every front.

They should test Hosea Gear under the high ball, question the midfield defensive screens around the new combination of Ma'a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams, ask the visitors' pack what response they have to the rolling maul.

If those questions come and the All Blacks counter successfully, it will help the visitors' World Cup schemes much more than another free-wheeling encounter against familiar foes.

Mid-evening sudden-death tests in mixed weather at next year's World Cup will demand teams have a portfolio of styles they can dovetail to conditions and their opponents.

Bring it on England before the All Blacks work out how to loosen a wheelnut on the Sweet Chariot.