England will look to end a 21-year run without an away victory over New Zealand as they face the All Blacks on Saturday.
Not since Sir Clive Woodward’s soon-to-be Rugby World Cup champions triumphed in Wellington in the summer of 2003 has an English side managed a single Test victory in the Land of the Long White Cloud, with Steve Borthwick’s side hoping to end that long barren run this weekend.
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Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin plays host to the first of two summer Tests, with the short series then moving onto Auckland’s Eden Park next week.
England are in high spirits going into the sport’s ultimate challenge, having run eight tries past an inexperienced Japan team coached by former boss Eddie Jones in a one-sided Tokyo warm-up last month.
Between that, their shock run to the World Cup semi-finals in the autumn and an improved Six Nations campaign, confidence and belief is growing under Borthwick as well as momentum.
New Zealand remain a formidable outfit of course, though are in a period of transition after former Crusaders coach Scott Robertson succeeded Ian Foster.
The All Blacks have not played at all since their dramatic 12-11 World Cup final defeat by South Africa in Paris last October and have a new captain in Scott Barrett, having lost the services of the likes of Sam Cane, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Richie Mo’unga.
But a number of familiar faces remain and England will have to be at their very best to attempt to pull off a repeat of their 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat of New Zealand, having played out a pulsating 25-25 draw at Twickenham in a 2022 autumn international.
Where to watch New Zealand vs England
TV channel: The first Test between New Zealand and England will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports.
Coverage gets underway on both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action at 7:30am BST on Saturday July 6, with kick-off scheduled for 8:05am.
Live stream: Those with a subscription to Sky Sports can also catch the action live online via the Sky Go app.
