Kia Ora and welcome to RUCK’s coverage of England’s tour of New Zealand. We are fresh off the plane in Auckland, and preparations have begun ahead of the two-match Test series against the All Blacks. Steve Borthwick’s men are riding a wave of momentum ahead of the first fixture this Saturday, after recording an impressive 52-17 win over Japan.
The England squad have since travelled down to the land of the All Blacks, and are getting over their jet lag with some tough sessions in the North Harbour Stadium. We are set to hear from two England young guns later today, as Manny Feyi-Waboso and George Furbank chat with the media from the heart of the England camp.
Borthwick is set to name his squad on either Wednesday or Thursday this week, with the England head coach keeping his opponents guessing on his preparations for now. Borthwick is set to go toe-to-toe along the touchline with Scott Robertson, as the coach known as ‘Razor’ gets set to oversee his first Test match in charge of the All Blacks.
There is plenty of expectation upon the former Crusaders head coach, and Borthwick would like nothing more than to build on his win over Eddie Jones, by taking the ‘W’ on Robertson’s maiden run at the helm. We expect a relatively unchanged side from the one which took on Japan, yet we’ve sprinkled in a few alterations ahead of the first New Zealand Test match. Here is RUCK’s predictions on the England team to play the All Blacks, this Saturday in Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.
BACK THREE
15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
11. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
As the old adage goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. We expect to see a level of consistency run throughout Steve Borthwick’s back-three, for the first of the two Tests against Scott Robertson’s new side. Borthwick’s trio of flyers which he selected to take on Japan looks like the strongest option across the back-three, and we anticipate the England head coach to select the same contingent should the trio remain fit for the All Blacks test.
Feyi-Waboso and Freeman linked up well throughout the Tokyo test, presenting a confidence to cover each other in defence, when the alternating flyer pushed forward in attack. Feyi-Waboso got his scoring charts underway for the Summer, as he linked up well with Marcus Smith, to claim the fly half’s wide pass and ground the ball in fine fashion. Freeman was also impressive, with a fine showing defensively.
The Northampton Saints man had a few heavy collisions with Jone Naikabula, and despite Freeman being the smaller dog in the fight, his perfect technique took down the powerhouse wing time and again. Rounding off the back-three is Freeman’s Northampton teammate George Furbank, and the fullback had a solid outing against the Cherry Blossoms. Furbank utilised a variety of weapons in attack, as he stubbed through some neat grubbers amongst his regular tantalising footwork.
CENTRES
12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Once again, if it ain’t broke. The Lawrence-Slade midfield partnership looks like the best option in Borthwick’s playbook to unleash upon New Zealand. The centre axis impressed against Eddie Jones’ Japan, with Lawrence’s powerful line breaks complemented by the excellent distribution of Slade’s passing. The 2024 Premiership Player of the Year was on fire against Japan, as Slade’s classy playmaking split the threads amongst the defensive line, the Lawrence was more than happy to break through.
Slade contributed five points to England’s impressive points tally out in Tokyo, in what was amongst the coolest catches of the Chiefs man’s career. Slade timed his run to perfection, and met Marcus Smith’s cross-field kick before crossing over the line. Slade’s take was a dominant arial presence, as the centre effortlessly drifted out to the wide channel, to cap off the move from the training ground. Lawrence’s top contribution in the win against Japan, saw him lay off a well-weighted pass to Smith, before the Harlequin ignited the afterburners through a gap and wheeled away to score.