England have been dealt a blow after George Furbank was ruled out of their Second Test against New Zealand with a back injury.
The full-back, who was singled out as England’s danger man by opposite number Stephen Perofeta earlier in the week, withdrew from the team overnight and will be replaced by Freddie Steward.
Furbank will be a big miss for Steve Borthwick’s side given his cutting edge in attack and the pressure is on Steward to deliver in what will be his first appearance for England since February.
England have tried to deflect the pressure of fortress Eden Park back onto New Zealand ahead of Saturday’s second and final Test in Auckland.
Borthwick looked to turn the All Blacks’ remarkable 30-year unbeaten run at the venue on its head, insisting the record only generates pressure for the All Blacks, an assertion that will have drawn wry smiles in New Zealand.
That the England boss feels able to try to turn that remarkable record back in the Red Rose favour speaks volumes about where both sides are in terms of development.
No Test coach would have dreamed of trying to reverse the psychology of New Zealand’s winning Auckland run under the highly decorated All Black regimes of the past.
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But Scott Robertson is a greenhorn when it comes to Test rugby, however outrageously successful he proved with the Crusaders in the club game.
His All Blacks are a rare work in progress – rarer still perhaps, than New Zealand’s 48-match unbeaten streak at Eden Park dating back to 1994.
For Borthwick, indulging in pre-match mind games is a new development and certainly a calculated gamble, signalling this match is in one sense a shot to nothing for the tourists.
England lost the first Test 16-15 last weekend at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr stadium. Both sides left the South Island frustrated by points missed off the tee and left out on the field, feeling they deserved victory but needed to do more to ram that home.
Now both sides have the chance to claim supremacy, even though an England win this weekend would square the two-Test series.
Borthwick clearly thinks England can rattle the All Blacks, otherwise he would not have insisted the pressure is on the hosts.
England must sharpen up at the scrum and at the breakdown when in possession to stand any chance of pulling off the mother of all statistical shocks.
It will take something monumental from England to topple even a mid-level All Blacks outfit at fortress Eden Park
Alongside Furbank coming in for Steward, there is one other change to the team that lost narrowly last week as Harlequins’ Fin Baxter comes in to make his full debut at loosehead due to Joe Marler being out with a foot injury.
Marcus Smith must sharpen his goal-kicking boots this weekend but is warming nicely to his task of running England’s backline.
England’s headway under Borthwick remains clear to see, but the boss is desperate for results to match wider progress.
France had to conjure ‘the try from the end of the world’ the last time New Zealand lost at Eden Park, those 30 years ago. It will take something equally monumental from England to topple even a mid-level All Blacks outfit on Saturday.
