England face New Zealand this afternoon in huge clash to kick off their 2024 Autumn Nations Series campaign.
It is a reunion between the two sides just months after the All Blacks hosted Steve Borthwick’s side in a two-Test summer series, which they won 2-0 after victories in Dunedin and at fortress Eden Park.
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Losing 16-15 and then 24-17 in two games in which they had held a second-half lead was a notably bitter pill to swallow for England - who had thrashed Eddie Jones’ experimental Japan team in a one-off warm-up Test. They coped admirably and showed further signs of clear progress during what is still arguably the toughest test that rugby union has to offer, but just lacked crucial execution at critical times with their long wait for a win on New Zealand soil to stretch beyond 21 years.
But now the Red Rose men get a quick shot at revenge as they begin a huge autumn series that also sees Australia, South Africa and Japan visit south-west London on consecutive weekends in November.
England head into those games hoping that their recent coaching upheaval won’t have provided too many distractions, with the likes of defence guru Felix Jones having resigned in a shock move after only seven months and strength and conditioning coach Aled Waters also joining Ireland. Tom Tombleson also departed.
Borthwick has responded by bringing in Oyonnax's Joe El-Abd to lead England’s defence, with Richard Wigglesworth earning a promotion and Kevin Sinfield agreeing to stay on in a reduced capacity.
A reshaped backroom team will be put to the immediate test by New Zealand, who will be smarting after failing to win the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019 as the Springboks triumphed in September instead.
Scott Robertson will hope to prove beyond doubt that he is the right coach to lead the evolving All Blacks, who remain in a period of transition with a number of their most experienced players now retired and also travel to meet Ireland, France and Italy in this demanding series.
There are subplots aplenty ahead of this game as usual, including England handing out their first 17 Enhanced Elite Player Squad contracts this week and Joe Marler causing a huge stir on social media by writing just days before the game that the “ridiculous” Haka should be “binned”, causing uproar and later issuing an apology.
England vs New Zealand date, kick-off time and venue
The Autumn Nations Series Test between England and New Zealand takes place today, Saturday November 2, 2024, at the newly-rechristened Allianz Stadium Twickenham.
Kick-off in south-west London is scheduled for 3.10pm GMT.
How to watch England vs New Zealand
TV channel: TNT Sports announced back in April that they had secured a deal to show this year’s Autumn Nations Series games live in the UK.
Saturday’s contest is being broadcast on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 2pm.
Live stream: TNT Sports subscribers can also watch the match live online via the Discovery+ app and website.
Live blog: Follow all the action on Saturday afternoon via Standard Sport’s dedicated live match blog.
England vs New Zealand team news
Borthwick brought forward his England team announcement by 48 hours in a surprise move, with Henry Slade picked to start at outside centre despite having played just 55 minutes of club rugby for Exeter so far this season after shoulder surgery.
There is a settled look to the backline as Marcus Smith marshals the attack from fly-half once more, though Ben Spencer makes his first England start at scrum-half with Alex Mitchell sidelined with a neck injury.
Ellis Genge is back in the front row after missing the summer tour with a calf injury, while Tom Curry - whose twin brother Ben is among the replacements - makes his first England start since last year’s World Cup after recovering fully from hip surgery.
England are set to be without lock Ollie Chessum for the whole month due to a knee injury suffered at a pre-series training camp in Spain, though George Ford has been passed fit after being added to the group along with Alex Coles and Ted Hill last week as Tom Roebuck and Charlie Ewels were released along with Chessum. Sam Underhill has not been picked for this weekend after a lack of action for Bath following ankle surgery.
Borthwick has gone with a 6-2 bench split in favour of forwards, leading to number eight Ben Earl helping to provide midfield cover after a cameo at centre against Japan in the summer.
New Zealand named their team on Thursday, but Robertson’s wider 36-man squad for this northern hemisphere trip includes scrum-half Cam Roigard, returning from injury at the expense of Noah Hotham.
Roigard made a scoring return for an experimental All Blacks team in Yokohama last weekend as they thrashed Japan 64-19, scoring 10 tries in total including seven in the first half.
There are 12 changes to that starting team at Twickenham, with wing Mark Tele’a, prop Tamaiti Williams and veteran flanker Sam Cane the only players to retain their spots.
Beauden Barrett returns at fly-half, with Cortez Ratima alongside him at 9. Jordie Barrett - who is set to join up with Irish giants Leinster after this tour - makes his first appearance following a knee injury sustained against Australia in September, with Scott Barrett captaining the team from the second row.
England vs New Zealand lineups
England XV: Furbank; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman; M Smith, Spencer; Genge, George (c), Stuart; Itoje, Martin; Cunningham-South, T Curry, Earl
Replacements: Dan, Baxter, Cole, Isiekwe, B Curry, Dombrandt, Randall, Ford
New Zealand XV: Jordan; Tele'a, Ioane, J Barrett, Clarke; B Barrett, Ratima; Williams, Taylor, Lomax; S Barrett (c), Vaa'i; Sititi, Cane, Savea
Replacements: Aumua, Tu'ungafasi, Tosi, Tuipulotu, Finau, Roigard, Lienert-Brown, McKenzie
England vs New Zealand head to head (h2h) history and results
The All Blacks last visited Twickenham in the autumn of 2022, when England scored a hat-trick of tries -including two from prop Will Stuart - in a memorable final eight minutes to pull off a thrilling 25-25 draw.
England’s last win over New Zealand was in their superb display in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals in Yokohama, while they have not defeated them on home soil since 2012. Their only other victories in this fixture this century were in 2002 and 2003 under Sir Clive Woodward.
England wins: 8
New Zealand wins: 35
Draws: 2
England vs New Zealand prediction
England gave a terrific account of themselves in New Zealand over the summer, more than matching an All Blacks team in transition for long periods and leading against them for long stretches in both Tests.
Borthwick understandably spoke of their performances with a mixture of pride and frustration, pleased that they had gone toe to toe with their mighty hosts in their own backyard - including at Eden Park, where New Zealand incredibly have not lost since 1994 - but no doubt with the nagging sense that his team had let likely their best chance to end that long wait for victory in the Land of the Long White Cloud slip agonisingly through their grasp.
Still, those gritty displays in Dunedin and Auckland should give England real confidence that they are capable of achieving just a third home win over the All Blacks in 22 years, though they need to improve their execution in terms of those critical fine margins.
Time will tell what impact the recent coaching upheaval has had on this group, but if they can keep up that spirited effort from the summer and feed off the Twickenham atmosphere then they may well get their rewards in another true nail-biter that goes down to the wire.
England to win, by three points.
England vs New Zealand match odds
England to win: 8/5
New Zealand to win: 4/7
Draw: 20/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
