But each challenge is treacherous and fraught with difficulty and that absolutely includes tonight's game.
This is not a test against England A or England B. It is a test against England ... full stop. There are 10 players in the 23 who were involved in England's epic 38-21 win of 2012. There is starch and quality in all of England's key units and enough experience and ability for them to take the proverbial mile if the All Blacks are careless enough to offer them the inch.
Mike Brown, by Hansen's estimation, is the best fullback in the world. Midfielder Manu Tuilagi terrorised the All Blacks two years ago. First-five Freddie Burns came on at Twickenham two years ago and closed out the game expertly. Ben Morgan hammered the All Blacks from No8 that fateful day; James Haskell took up the cudgel from the bench and Joe Launchbury and Geoff Parling were the rocks on which the victory was built. England A ... hardly.
England are capable of spoiling the party tonight. The All Blacks' 14 consecutive victories won't click to 15 simply because they turned up.
"If we hang on to last year we'll get thumped," was Hansen's succinct response to whether the success of last year was a potential issue. "So the first thing we have to do is exactly what we did after winning the World Cup. Put a full stop on it.
" ... This England side can do some things better than we can. We need to make sure we improve in those areas."
"We expect them to turn up; they've clearly got confidence in who they are and what they're doing. Their environment seems to be one of 'keep quiet, get on and do the work', and that makes them dangerous."
Dangerous but predictable. The All Blacks know where the threat lies with England. Yes, they can play wider and with more enterprise than their predecessors. Tuilagi will have to be shut down and kicks to Brown will have to be contestable. Let him run and he'll keep going. But, still, much as it has always been, the key to this England team is their set-piece and physicality and organisation at the breakdown. Morgan will be used to run off rucks. Parling and Launchbury will come round the corner on to short passes and Chris Robshaw will fancy he can go toe-to-toe with Richie McCaw in scrambling for turnovers.
Match England in the beast department and the All Blacks can let their superior beauty prevail. The All Blacks, as they showed at Twickenham last year, have instincts and ball skills that England don't. If the platform is laid, the business of pass and catch becomes the ABs' biggest weapon and they will almost certainly be viewing England's 10-12 axis as vulnerable. Burns is not renowned as a defender and the inexperienced Kyle Eastmond is conceding 27kg to Ma'a Nonu.
England have gambled there.
"Clearly for us we need to give Kyle the licence to do what he does best and that's put people through holes but also encourage him to take on players himself as he's a genuine running threat and a passing threat," said England coach Stuart Lancaster in explaining his choice at second-five.APN News & Media
