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LONDON - When England won in Wellington in June 2003 it underlined their status as the sport's number one side, but three years on they may have become glorified tackle bags as the All Blacks eye bigger fish.
Naming his team for Sunday's Twickenham clash, Graham Henry made
no attempt to disguise the fact that the fixture would be used as a building block for the two tests against France and the All Blacks' finale against Wales in Cardiff.
The coach has developed two squads, both capable of beating anybody else in the game, and is now fine-tuning, with a run out against the world champions in front of 82,000 seen as the perfect proving ground
Nobody in the England camp, however, will be calling this a second-string All Black side. Two thirds of the starting lineup would probably make Henry's strongest team and most of the rest would command a regular slot in any other international side.
Henry has tried a few new combinations, with Ma'a Nonu having a run in the centres and Keith Robinson back after a two-year absence to partner Chris Jack in the second row.
Jerry Collins has been given the day off but a back row of captain Richie McCaw, Reuben Thorne and Chris Masoe -- with Rodney So'oialo on the bench, should keep England's debutant halfback Shaun Perry and first five-eighths Charlie Hodgson on their toes.
Henry said he expected a more attacking England side than the one which lost 23-19 a year ago.
"I think there's going to be a change in the way they play," he said. "That's a positive thing. I imagine they'll use the ball a lot more in their hands.
"I watched their games in Australia over the summer and they were trying to use the ball, even inside their own 22 on a few occasions which I hadn't seen from them for a number of years."
England coach Andy Robinson certainly has to try something new because, as five consecutive defeats and fourth place in the Six Nations show, whatever he was doing before was not working.
His options limited by injuries, Robinson has included three uncapped players -- Perry, winger Paul Sackey and exciting 20-year-old centre Anthony Allen and recalled free-running Iain Balshaw at fullback.
England fans, shocked at the rapid decline of their team, who are still world champions but now ranked only sixth, have pinned many of their hopes on attack coach Brian Ashton.
With Rob Andrew also overseeing the whole international set up as director of rugby, there is some optimism that England will find some of the attacking spark that has been so notably absent over the last 18 months.
"If we go out and play ugly, we probably won't win," said John Wells, another of the new coaching faces. "We're going to have to play some football."
Though he would never admit it, Robinson would probably accept an honourable defeat if his team shows the attacking promise, intelligence and invention he craves.
England:
15-Iain Balshaw; 14-Paul Sackey, 13-Jamie Noon, 12-Anthony Allen, 11-Ben Cohen; 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Shaun Perry; 8-Pat Sanderson, 7-Lewis Moody, 6-Martin Corry (captain), 5-Ben Kay, 4-Danny Grewcock, 3-Julian White, 2-George Chuter, 1-Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:
16-Lee Mears, 17-Stuart Turner, 18-Chris Jones, 19-Magnus Lund, 20-Peter Richards, 21-Andy Goode, 22-Mark Van Gisbergen.
All Blacks:
15-Mils Muliaina; 14-Rico Gear, 13-Ma'a Nonu, 12-Aaron Mauger, 11-Joe Rokocoko; 10-Nick Evans, 9-Byron Kelleher; 8-Chris Masoe, 7-Richie McCaw (captain), 6-Reuben Thorne, 5-Keith Robinson, 4-Chris Jack, 3-Carl Hayman, 2-Keven Mealamu, 1-Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:
16-Andrew Hore, 17-John Afoa, 18-Clark Dermody, 19-Rodney So'oialo, 20-Andrew Ellis, 21-Dan Carter, 22-Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Referee: Joel Jutge (France)
- REUTERS
