Ellis Genge said England cannot wait to face New Zealand this week in a match which will provide the measuring stick for the progress of Steve Borthwick’s team.
Last year, England lost three times to the All Blacks after letting slip advantages in the final 20 minutes of all threematches. Now they will have an opportunity to avenge their heartbreak and Genge, who took over the captaincy from Maro Itoje in their match against Fiji at the weekend, is relishing the test against one of the sport’s standard-bearers.
“I can’t wait for that,” Genge said. “I love playing against the best in the world. It will be a battle of attrition, in years gone by they have been known for chucking the ball about but they have got some big physical lumps in there now and we will relish that.
“There is always belief. We went through a tough period a year or so ago and the walls close in a little bit but the belief has always been there in the squad. For us, internally, we plan to win games but it doesn’t always go your way. It can be the toss of a coin sometimes. We are obviously over the moon to have won nine in a row but it obviously gets very tough next week against New Zealand, who are one of the best sides in the world.”
Borthwick, the England coach, is hoping to have fullback Freddie Steward and wing Tom Roebuck fit for the match, while he played down concerns about the wing pairing of Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who both appeared to be in the wars against Fiji. Feyi-Waboso especially was the victim of a crude challenge in the air by Selestino Ravutaumada but despite the incident being sent to the video referee, it was ruled only as a yellow card.
“When I am in the game, I’m concentrating on the game and how I can possibly assist within it,” Borthwick said. “The referee’s decisions and the bunker’s decisions are not a factor in that.”
Fiji posed plenty of problems for England, twice taking the lead in the first half and the game was finely poised at 21-18 until Borthwick unloaded his heavy hitters from the bench.
“It was a tough, physical game against a team packed with pace, power and skill,” Borthwick said. “They can make line breaks from just about anywhere. The players did really well managing it, understanding it was going to be tight and finding the ability to accelerate and convert opportunities at the end.
“You have seen how the margins are so small in test matches and it is a score going into the last quarter. You can see the impact the Fiji[an] Drua [the Fiji-based team that competes in Super Rugby Pacific] has had. You can see the improvements in their set piece and their kicking. That’s a team who gave us a tight quarter-final two years ago. If they continue their development, you wouldn’t be surprised if they’re challenging for World Cup semifinals. They will be that good.
“It’s been about beating Australia and beating Fiji. Nothing else. On Monday, we’ll start preparing for the game against New Zealand. That’s the way we approach it, on a week-by-week basis.”
