It seems like a yawning eternity between betting on Rugby International matches, but England v New Zealand head line Saturday, November 6th fixtures. Fortunately there is a blitz of top quality rugby uinion coming, as the home nations take on the southern hemisphere. While Ireland square off against South Africa and Wales take on Australia, eyes will be on Twickenham to see how far England are progressing under Martin Johnson. It hasn’t been a smooth transition into the job for World Cup winner Johnson, although his 21-20 win over Australia back in June will have raised a little hope. The problem for England, under Johnson in particular, has been a lack of cohesion between the forwards and the backs. Everything has just been incredibly flat and on the large part directionless. There has been a distinct lack of cutting edge when it comes to spreading the ball wide, and they always seems to be more worried about what the opposition are doing, how they are lining up as opposed to getting on with their own thing. Now Twickenham will see another new England, as the England v New Zealand match starts the November series, before they face Australia, Samoa and South Africa in a thrilling sequence. Former Captain Phil Vickery has announced his retirement from the game, and while one experienced head departs, there is a feeling of a youthful breeze finally blowing through the England ranks. What that brings of course is inexperience, and that is the last thing you want exposed by the All Blacks.
England v New Zealand Betting Odds
England to win: 11/2 at SportingBet
Draw: 33/1 at Bet365
New Zealand to win: 1/6 at Ladbrokes
England have only managed to win nine matches out twenty five that Martin Johnson has coached. Not great, but one has to question whether the blame is solely on him. The specialist coaches have taken a lot of flak, as well as the general standard of the English domestic rugby game, which is seen to be in decline. But one of the positives of youth, is often bravery. It may take some time for new players to settle in to roles at International level, but for the new boys here, an England v New Zealand match doesn’t get any tougher. With the Premiership just a couple of weeks into its new season, the England players should be relatively fresh, and there is a hope that the intensity from the league will spill over into the enthusiasm needed on the pitch, come Saturday. Johnson wants England to come out of the blocks running, to try and unsettle the vistiors, and also to not find themselves in a position of having to chase the game from an early stage. The task ahead of them at Twickenham is no easy one of course. New Zealand have not lost on British soil for eight years.
England will be led out again by Lewis Moody, and prop Andrew Sheridan is welcomed back into the squad, after sitting out a long period from the game through injury. While there are familiar names in the starting fifteen which Johnson has announced to face the Kiwis, five of the players will get their first taste of playing at Twickenham. Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Shontayne Hape, Ben Youngs and Courtney Lawes all make their home debuts for England, while David Attwood and Hendre Fourie will wait to come off the bench for their first full caps. There is actually quite a nice looking balance to the England team when you look at it on paper. In particular, the pack seems to be quite a mobile one, with Nick Easter, Dan Cole, Courtney Lawes and Tom Palmer hovering around the action. Throw in the tackling impacts that Tom Croft and Lewis Moody has around the breakdown and there is a good looking side. Nick Easter at number eight will need a big game, controlling the speed which the ball gets to the backs. Ben Youngs steps in as scrum half. The Leicester man has only three caps to his name, but he was the Land Rover Discovery of the Year in 2009-10, and the scrum half is given him another chance. Youngs ran in a try in the 21-20 victory in Australia mentioned above, after throwing a dummy to beat the Aussie defence. Chris Ashton, who looks like a very exciting long term prospect, along with Mark Cueto will occupy the wings, and while there is no Jonny Wilkinson, Toby Flood controls from fly half.
England v New Zealand Betting Tip: New Zealand winning margin 11-20 for 15/8 at Ladbrokes
The fly half position is where most of the blame has been placed on the backs. Wasted balls kicked away, poor passing, and a flat back line playing off the fly half has been England’s attacking downfall for some time now. Flood has to be on top of his game in such an important position, and is the more dynamic option over Wilkinson (who is out injured). Rugby League and Kiwi convert Hape will be the injection of creativity, pace and finishing power through the middle, while Mike Tindall will continue his role as direct battering ram. Looking at the full back position, Ben Foden continues his fledgling international career, and makes up a triumvirate of real attacking cutting edge from the back along with Youngs and Ashton. This is the youth that England need to develop well and use, and of course, give chances to. These are the future of the team. Foden is a lethal runner when he gets the ball in hand, something England really haven’t had for a long time, not since Jason Robinson hung up his boots really. What Foden does, is open up games very well. Usually the first order of the day for a full back is to put boot to ball, but the confidence and attitude with which Foden plays, that is generally his second option. If he sees space, he will run and counter without hesitation. Again, on paper, England look a balanced, and somewhat exciting team. The questions will be over Johnson’s tactics, and whether he is astute enough to navigate their way past a New Zealand side which has not conceded a try on their last two European Tours. In the fixture last year, the Kiwis ran out comfortable 19-6 winners, but this being the first real match for England, they usually perform well. You can expect a spark of enthusiasm, and hopefully a bit of bravery to take the game to the Kiwis right from the very off.
England team to face New Zealand: Andrew Sheridan, Steve Thompson, Dan Cole, Courtney Lawes, Tom Palmer, Tom Croft, Lewis Moody, Nick Easter, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood, Mark Cueto, Shontayne Hape, Mike Tindall, Chris Ashton, Ben Foden.
For the All Blacks, the key man as always will be Dan Carter, and the England midfield have to find a way of shutting him down. New Zealand will hit Twickenham with something to prove. After cruising to a Tri-Nations title, where they won six out of six matches and notched 184 points, they slipped up in a warm up match recently against Australia in Hong Kong. That was a game which would have equalled the world record for consecutive Test match victories (standing at 17), if the Kiwis had won it. Instead, Australia ended a ten game losing streak against the All Blacks. But that was a seriously long unbeaten run to start with, and highlights the dominance of the Kiwis. They are the best attacking side in the world, hands down. No questions. They have natural flair, dynamic running and power from all over the place. It is hard to spot any weakness in the All Blacks armour, and only moments of players switching off, often puts the All Blacks under pressure. Tri Nations was an absolute thriller this year, with score lines rocketing, and the question is, do England try and match that power, or try and contain? The World Cup is next year, and the winners are usually a team build on solid defence. The England defence will be tested on Saturday, as the All Blacks will be reeling from that loss to Australia. The last time New Zealand lost in Britain was when England beat them 31-28 at Twickenham in 2002. That was in the November series too, just ahead of the 2003 World Cup, which England of course, won.
England v New Zealand Stats
Matches Played: 33
England wins: 6
New Zealand wins: 26
Draws: 1
Largest match points for England: 31-28
Largest match points for New Zealand: 64-22
Largest winning margin for England: 13-0 (13)
Largest winning margin for New Zealand: 64-22 (42)
England Total points v NZ: 408
New Zealand Total points v ENG: 784
Average points for England v NZ: 12
Average points for New Zealand v ENG: 23
November 4th, 2010 / Lee A Jackson - Category: Sports Betting
