Four Weddings and a Funeral had just been released and Wet Wet Wet were topping the charts the last time the All Blacks were beaten at Eden Park. An English defeat on Saturday, however, is not seen as inevitable by the visitors with Steve Borthwick claiming the heaviest weight of expectation is on New Zealand to preserve their 30-year unbeaten run.
The head coach, who has been seeking clarity around the scrum officiating in the first Test, is adamant his side still have plenty in the tank at the end of a marathon season and has been fired up by a throwaway line from a Kiwi fan he met in Dunedin last Sunday. “There is a lot of talk this week about the record,” said Borthwick, having announced a near-identical lineup for the second and final Test.
