Rugby: Gloomy England wallow as All Blacks loom

All Black Kieran Read is expecting England to respond to the criticism on Sunday. Photo / Getty Images

LONDON - Doom. Gloom. Despair. As the All Blacks kicked a football like hyperactive kids at a west London school today, you could almost picture their rugby opponents huddled in a sound-proof bunker.

If the Sunday papers didn't hold back in their assessment of England's performance against Argentina, then an overcast, breezy Monday arrived with a ferocity that even had the All Blacks wincing.

Former long-serving England halfback Matt Dawson labelled the first half of their 16-9 win the worst 40 minutes he'd seen at Twickenham. With all due respect to some former England sides, that was some statement.

"England were devoid of any invention or creativity, so it was no wonder that the crowd turned against them," he wrote in the Daily Mail.

On the facing page, rugby writer Chris Foy summed it up: "rarely in the course of sporting history can a victor have looked so utterly despondent, so crushed, so defeated even".

The Daily Telegraph didn't restrict its gloom to the rugby.

"What's the matter with England?," it boomed on the front of its sports liftout with the sub-headings: "battered (England's cricketers by South Africa), booed (England's rugby team), beaten (England's soccer side, 1-0 by Brazil)".

So it's left to England's former inspirational skipper, Martin Johnson, trumpeted last year as the team's saviour, to somehow try and lift them to face the All Blacks at Twickenham on Sunday (NZT).

The tourists digested all this over their morning muesli at their hotel overlooking Hyde Park and Kensington Palace with a touch of amusement.

Bench five-eighth Stephen Donald remarked: "we're usually the ones copping it".

And returning All Blacks No 8 Kieran Read did his best to quell the local press.

"It seems as if you get bagged then a team will come out and put in a good performance so we've got to wary of that. I think England are going to be up for it come Saturday. We've got to do out job and be ready for a team who'll come out pretty fired up."

The All Blacks shared their plush lodgings with an eclectic group including the hungover Kangaroos who'd spent two days celebrating their Four Nations league triumph, and the Serbian soccer side, preparing for their international against South Korea at Craven Cottage.

The All Blacks had their usual Monday "recovery games" at Latymer Upper School, a bit of soccer, a bit of touch rugby, before a likely full-strength lineup gets down to business with their first serious training run tomorrow.

After a week's rest as the second-stringers beat Italy 20-6, the likes of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Brad Thorn, Tony Woodcock, Conrad Smith, Jimmy Cowan, Mils Muliaina and Read should return to the starting 15.

Assistant coach Steve Hansen said they would revert to the "tried and true" and pick their best lineup to beat England.

The only questionmarks are over blindside flanker, where Adam Thomson might have his nose in front in the tight race with Jerome Kaino, and lock, where Tom Donnelly could edge Jason Eaton and Anthony Boric.

Depending on the fitness of Cory Jane, who took a knock against Italy, the selectors might be tempted to give impressive Cardiff debutant Zac Guildford another crack on the wing.

Five All Blacks - Rodney So'oialo, Andy Ellis, Mike Delany, Tamati Ellison and John Afoa - sat out today's training with general soreness from the bruising Milan test but no injuries were considered serious.

Debut winger Ben Smith trained with a fibreglass cast on his badly bruised right thumb, which will now be x-rayed tomorrow as medical staff look to clear him of any fractures.

- NZPA