England had not beaten the All Blacks at Twickenham since December 1, 2012, but the victory followed in the most important meeting between the two sides for 13 years.
On 26 October 2019, England faced Rugby World Cup favorites New Zealand in the semi-finals in Yokohama.
What followed was arguably England’s greatest ever performance. The stunning 19-7 victory ended the All Blacks’ hopes of winning a third consecutive World Cup.
Since 2012, New Zealand have visited Twickenham five times, winning four times (2013, 2014, 2018, 2024) and drawing once (2022). They also defeated England on Kiwi soil five more times.
But 2019 remains a standout year for the All Blacks past and present, and captain Scott Barrett broached the topic out of the blue on Friday ahead of Saturday’s latest match.
“If you look back at our history, this is going to be a hell of a Test match and we certainly have the hurt from the English at the 2019 World Cup. We don’t want to go there anymore,” Barrett said.
New Zealand have already defeated Ireland and Scotland this month, but admit they have “scars” ahead of their match against England.
“Yes (2019 is still fresh in our minds), every All Black wants to win the World Cup and having that dream and having the rug pulled out from under them by England will definitely leave a scar.
“It’s important for us to play with the strength we’ve built this season, play with confidence and deliver a performance we can be proud of on Saturday night.
“With 80,000-odd people, it’s always a challenge from the first moment, it’s always physical, it’s always a great contest.
“If you look back, a few games against England we were within one point.”
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Sky Sports News’ James Cole reports from England camp ahead of Saturday’s big game against New Zealand
Asked if he was surprised that England, who are bidding for a 10th successive Test victory this weekend, were favorites for Saturday’s contest, Barrett responded diplomatically.
“To be honest, I’m not surprised,” he said.
“They have regained their momentum at home and have a young group, including experienced heads in key positions. I think they are a confident and sure-footed team that has their backs.”
“I think in the game last week, we scored some quick tries but we were actually arm-wrestling for the majority of that game and I think Scotland probably won a lot of the arm-wrestling.
“These are areas that England would have emphasized and certainly saw as an opportunity. A week is both a short and long time in Test rugby and we are looking forward to hitting the ground running on Saturday and playing a game that will make our country proud.”
England have won nine Tests in a row, having defeated Australia and Fiji so far this month.
“We want to quiet the Twickenham crowd and use that as fuel.”
As for the possibility of playing against England in front of a packed Twickenham crowd, Barrett admitted the crowd will be a competitive factor but he wants to control it.
“Well, that’s the important part[of keeping the crowd quiet]. We talked about the noise.
“Noise is ultimately a distraction and it can be frustrating, but we use it as fuel and step up there.
“In the end all you have to do is accept it and smile. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the Test arena.
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England’s George Ford speaks ahead of match against New Zealand of his hopes of beating the All Blacks at Twickenham for the first time since 2012
“You know, there’s a lot of New Zealanders here, but if we lose, there’s a few more Brits who will sing Swing Low Sweet Chariot at the end of the game.
“We can take advantage of that and make sure we can take our hats off and be proud of the previous 80 minutes.
“England are probably doubling down on their aerial prowess and destructiveness, which is in their DNA. We’re certainly preparing for that and we’re excited about Saturday.”
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England assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth believes there is still plenty of room for improvement ahead of the match against New Zealand.
England vs New Zealand: Teams
England: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Fraser Dingwall, 11. Immanuel Fay-Waboso, 10. George Ford, 9. Alex Mitchell. 1. Finn Baxter, 2. Jamie George, 3. Joe Hayes, 4. Maro Itoje (c), 5. Alex Coles, 6. Guy Pepper, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Ben Earl.
Substitutions: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stewart, 19. Chandler Cunningham-South, 20. Tom Curry, 21. Henry Pollock, 22. Ben Spencer, 23. Marcus Smith.
New Zealand: 15. Will Jordan, 14. Leroy Carter, 13. Billy Proctor, 12. Quinn Tupaea, 11. Lester Fainghanuku, 10. Beauden Barrett, 9. Cam Roigaard. 1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Cody Taylor, 3. Fletcher Newell, 4. Scott Barrett (c), 5. Fabian Holland, 6. Simon Parker, 7. Ardie Savea, 8. Peter Lakay,
Substitutes: 16. Samisoni Taukeiaho, 17. Tamaiti Williams, 18. Pacilio Tosi, 19. Josh Lord, 20. Wallace Sititi, 21. Cortez Latima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Damien McKenzie.
England Autumn Nations Series Schedule
November 1st
England 25-7 Australia – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
November 8th
England 38-18 Fiji – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
November 15th
England vs New Zealand – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (3:10pm)
November 23rd
England vs Argentina – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (4.10pm)
