Twickers brings out the best

The expectation is that the theme of the All Blacks tour will switch this week from development to result. For all their protestations to the contrary, the All Black coaches have clearly labelled England as the toughest nut to crack on this tour.

Forget that Wales are Six Nations champions and that England coach Andy Robinson would struggle to convince that he has any more than a passing acquaintance with the planet Earth.

At Twickenham, in front of 75,000 rabid rah-rahs, England will be a formidable opponent. As such, Henry and his selectors are likely to revert back to the tried and trusted and leave further experimentation until they face the hapless Jocks.

"We have not ranked any of the sides," said Henry. "We will look at a combined side from the first two games to play against England."

What that means is Henry will pick his strongest side. And just what that is right now is up for debate.

Tony Woodcock and Carl Hayman are undisputed as starting props and it would be a surprise if Chris Jack and Ali Williams were not viewed as the ideal lock combination.

Tough calls have to be made at hooker and in the back row. Anton Oliver's bulk and experience would be useful against a powerful English scrum. But against that, Henry will have to weigh up the greater mobility of Keven Mealamu and his ability to carry the ball under the radar of some of the bigger English forwards.

The most likely outcome is that Oliver will start, with Mealamu being given a decent run off the bench. The loose forward trio of Jerry Collins, Richie McCaw and Rodney So'oialo is tried and trusted. Yet there must be a possibility of Mose Tuiali'i getting a crack at No 8.

If he is going to prove he really is a test class loose forward, then this would be the ideal game to show it.

England will play it much tighter than both Wales and Ireland. They will use big runners to take the ball into contact and hammer away at the fringes of the breakdown.

We know Tuiali'i is a brilliant runner and athlete, happiest when he is taking the ball out in the midfield. He needs, though, to prove he can tough it out in an old-fashioned arm-wrestle. The All Blacks won't always be able to dictate the pace of the game. There will be occasions where they are forced to slow down and play things a bit tighter.

The challenge for Tuiali'i is to prove he can do that and maybe the gauntlet will be thrown down by the selectors this week.

Byron Kelleher will probably see off Piri Weepu and start at nine, while Daniel Carter needn't worry about his selection. As always the real consternation for the selectors will be the composition of the midfield and back three.

Aaron Mauger's cultured right boot will be invaluable at Twickenham and to leave him out, in favour of fielding Tana Umaga and Conrad Smith, would be a brave call.

They could just about toss a coin to select the wings, with Joe Rokocoko the most likely of the four to get a start. The form of Rico Gear is hard to ignore. Then again, how do you leave out Doug Howlett and Sitiveni Sivivatu? The final decision will probably depend on what side the selectors feel England might pick.

It is the same old dilemma at fullback where the running skills of Mils Muliaina have to be weighed up against Leon MacDonald's more composed kicking game.

Again, that's a call that will go down to the wire.

The big surprise might be the inclusion of Isaia Toe'ava on the bench. The 19-year-old is the only one of the 35 players not to have been involved in any capacity so far.

"He's in the same position as Luke McAlister last year. He is the young back on tour," said Henry of Toe'ava. "If you look at where Luke was and how far he has come in the last six months, it is impressive. Isaia is learning about the environment, the culture and the grumpy head coach. He will get his opportunity at some stage."

That opportunity will almost certainly come against Scotland but there might also be a strong temptation to throw him into the fray at some stage this week as the English are uncomfortable when they have to confront the unconventional.

There is, of course, another reason why the development theme will be shelved this week - England, as Andrew Mehrtens put it, are painful, sharp jabs to lose to.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY