England go head-to-head against New Zealand for the third time this year in their opening Autumn Nations Series match at Twickenham, aka the Allianz Stadium.
When is the match?
England play New Zealand on Saturday, Nov 2 at Twickenham.
What time does it start?
The match kicks off at 3.10pm GMT. Or 3.10am on Sunday morning if you are in New Zealand.
What TV channel is it on?
In the UK and Ireland, every game will be shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
What is the latest team news?
England
Henry Slade has convinced England boss Steve Borthwick he is ready to take on New Zealand after being picked at outside centre for Saturday’s clash at the Allianz Stadium.
Slade made his first appearance of the season in Exeter’s defeat by Harlequins on Sunday having undergone shoulder surgery, completing 55 minutes before being withdrawn.
That run out is deemed enough to give him the nod ahead of the in-form Alex Lozowski, with the Chiefs playmaker an influential figure in the team’s aggressive “blitz” defensive system.
The three-way battle at scrum-half has been won by Ben Spencer, who will make his first start for England having won all six previous caps in a five-year Test career off the bench.
Harry Randall edges Jack van Poortvliet as back-up cover on a bench that features a six-two split between forwards and backs, with George Ford the replacement fly-half.
Chandler Cunningham-South is present at blindside flanker after Ollie Chessum was ruled out against the All Blacks – and most likely the entire autumn programme – because of a knee problem.
Cunningham-South has enjoyed a stellar debut year for England and is preferred for the back row vacancy ahead of the more experienced Sam Underhill, who is also overlooked for a substitute role.
Ellis Genge and Will Stuart are the starting props who will be rotated out for Fin Baxter and Dan Cole early in the second half.
Nick Isiekwe, Ben Curry and Alex Dombrandt are the replacement back five forwards.
England XV: G Furbank (Northampton Saints); I Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), H Slade (Exeter Chiefs), O Lawrence (Bath Rugby), T Freeman (Northampton Saints); M Smith (Harlequins), B Spencer (Bath Rugby); E Genge (Bristol Bears), J George (Saracens, capt), W Stuart (Bath Rugby), M Itoje (Saracens), G Martin (Leicester Tigers), C Cunningham-South (Harlequins), T Curry (Sale Sharks), B Earl (Saracens).
Replacements: T Dan (Saracens), F Baxter (Harlequins), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), N Isiekwe (Saracens), B Curry (Sale Sharks), A Dombrandt (Harlequins), H Randall (Bristol Bears), G Ford (Sale Sharks).
New Zealand
Ethan de Groot, one of the world’s best looseheads, has been left out of New Zealand’s matchday 23 to face England after failing to meet “internal standards”.
Tamaiti Williams will start at loosehead at Twickenham on Saturday with Ofa Tu’ungafasi named among the replacements. De Groot, who caused England scrum issues in the two-Test July series, was not listed as an injured player in Scott Robertson’s team announcement and the All Blacks head coach explained that the 26-year-old had been omitted.
“Ethan did not meet internal standards,” said Robertson. “Just internal standards, generally, and he is not available for selection this week.” Robertson added that De Groot would be available for the Test against Ireland next Friday.
“Our scrum is one of our strengths,” Robertson added. “We’d like to use it positively. [The selection] is close to what we expected from England. You don’t want to play too much ‘guess who’, but they’ve got some good young kids coming through and it will be a hell of an experience.
“It feels like it was a year ago, the last time we played them. Hard-fought games, one score, games right at the end … they created a lot of opportunities and so did we. They have a good, balanced squad – and playing at home, which is part of the challenge. Every Test has its own little story, and this will be no different on Saturday.
“Twickenham is huge, the home of rugby. It’s special. It’s one of the places, as a rugby player growing up in New Zealand, getting up in the middle of the night, to watch the All Blacks in epic battles at Twickenham. All Black heroes have left their mark on Twickenham. It’ll be another weekend for it.”
England will be facing a significantly different New Zealand side from the consecutive losses in the summer with Robertson making nine changes to the starting XV which defeated Steve Borthwick’s men at Eden Park in July.
Beauden Barrett, whose contributions off the bench at full-back in both Tests hurt England, will continue at fly-half, the position in which he finished the Rugby Championship. Damian McKenzie, the starting playmaker in the England Test series, has to make do with a spot among the replacements.
Scott Barrett will captain the side from the second row, where he is partnered by Tupou Vaa’i. Behind them, Wallace Sititi, Sam Cane and Ardie Savea complete the forward pack, with Tyrel Lomax and Codie Taylor alongside Williams in the front row.
Cortez Ratima starts at scrum-half, with Jordie Barrett outside his brother, Beauden, at inside centre for the first time in an All Blacks jersey. Rieko Ioane continues at outside centre while there are three changes in the back three – one positional – from the All Blacks side which England last faced. Mark Tele’a switches from left to right wing to accommodate Caleb Clarke, while Will Jordan starts at full-back. Robertson added that he was not tempted to mirror England’s 6:2 split on the bench.
Last weekend, New Zealand defeated Japan 64-19, with only four players from that comfortable victory – Williams, Cane, Sititi and Tele’a – retained in the starting XV, with the latter two switching positions.
The two sides will compete for the Hillary Shield on Saturday, which is currently held by the All Blacks after their two-Test series win in July. The last time the two sides met at Twickenham, the match finished in a thrilling 22-22 draw.
Following the Test at Twickenham, New Zealand travel to Dublin, Paris and Turin to close out their autumn schedule.
New Zealand XV: W Jordan; M Tele’a, R Ioane, J Barrett, C Clarke; B Barrett, C Ratima; T Williams, C Taylor, T Lomax, S Barrett, T Vaa’i, W Sititi, S Cane, A Savea.
Replacements: A Aumua, O Tu’ungafasi, P Tosi, P Tuipulotu, S Finau, C Roigard, A Lienert-Brown, D McKenzie.
What are the latest odds?
England 6/4
New Zealand 4/6
Draw 22/1
What happened the last time these teams played?
England’s summer tour this year was to New Zealand and despite pushing the All Blacks close in both games – 16-15 in the first Test and 24-17 in the second – they ultimately returned home winless.
What is our prediction?
England may have gone down to a 2-0 series defeat on their summer tour, but both matches could have gone either way. And young guns such as Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman and George Martin impressed an often hard-to-please New Zealand public. So, with home advantage this time, Borthwick’s men have a fabulous opportunity to claim victory on home turf.
Predicted score: England 23 New Zealand 19
