England v All Blacks
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Strengths of that England team
It has won nine on the bounce and has lots of potential. It plays with high work rate, smart structure, astute kicking and growing attacking variety.
- Defensive Intensity and Breakdown Pressure
With Underhill, Earl, Pepper, Curry, Pollock and Itoje (so many pests who will be looking for turnovers) England have one of the most disruptive defensive packs in world rugby.
Relentless line speed and chop tackling from their defence will also create turnover opportunities.
- Aerial and Territorial Control
Steward, Ford, and Mitchell give England a reliable kick-chase and territorial base.
Roebuck and Feyi-Waboso are good at the chase and in the air.
- Leadership and Experience
George, Itoje, Ford, and Steward form a calm, experienced axis that anchors younger players.
Composure under pressure has improved dramatically since 2023.
- Set-Piece Reliability
Scrum looks solid with Baxter-George-Heyes; lineout options in Itoje, Coles, Earl.
Ford is a solid goalkicker.
England's work on kickoffs is excellent.
- Versatility in the Back Row
Earl, Underhill, and Pepper/Curry offer complementary styles — mobility, power, and work rate.
Cunningham-South and Pollock add bench dynamism.
Three back row players on the bench is a bold call.
- Counterattack Potential
Feyi-Waboso, Earl and Pollock in broken play are lethal.
Ford and Mitchell can quickly switch to attacking width when turnover ball arises.
- Emerging Depth and Balance
Blend of young talent (Baxter, Pepper, Pollock, Feyi-Waboso) with seasoned Test heads (George, Itoje, Curry, Ford)
Strong “finishers” bench — Smith, Genge, Curry, Pollock, Cunningham-South.
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Thank you Catogrande and Sparky for the detail about the English players. I know most of the regular players by reputation but appreciate getting to know more about the newer squad members.
Is it fair to say Borthwick has deliberately packed the bench with typical starters / stronger players – specifically front row and Curry?
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Thank you Catogrande and Sparky for the detail about the English players. I know most of the regular players by reputation but appreciate getting to know more about the newer squad members.
Is it fair to say Borthwick has deliberately packed the bench with typical starters / stronger players – specifically front row and Curry?
@JA said in England Vs All Blacks:
Thank you Catogrande and Sparky for the detail about the English players. I know most of the regular players by reputation but appreciate getting to know more about the newer squad members.
Is it fair to say Borthwick has deliberately packed the bench with typical starters / stronger players – specifically front row and Curry?
It certainly looks that way. It could easlly be said that the bench options at forward are stronger than the starters and in the last two games they have brought a lot of power and dynamism to finish the game off. The counter to that though is that we were still in the lead in both instances. Such a strategy may not work if you're 20 points down when all your best players come on. A bit like stacking the back end of your singles at the Ryder Cup to finish the match off only to find you've already lost it.
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@MiketheSnow said in England Vs All Blacks:
Pine Posse
Yeah if we're talking NZ, it can't be a positive name eh, got to be some kind of gang/posse/cabal.
@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:
@MiketheSnow said in England Vs All Blacks:
Pine Posse
Yeah if we're talking NZ, it can't be a positive name eh, got to be some kind of gang/posse/cabal.
I think Black Power's taken.
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While we're on nicknames, that Netflix show "Baby Reindeer", has had me calling the Spring Boks that ever since.
Seems annoy Saffa mates, so I will continue with it.
@Snowy said in England Vs All Blacks:
While we're on nicknames, that Netflix show "Baby Reindeer", has had me calling the Spring Boks that ever since.
Seems annoy Saffa mates, so I will continue with it.
Note to self: never watch that Netflix show Baby Reindeer
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@Snowy said in England Vs All Blacks:
While we're on nicknames, that Netflix show "Baby Reindeer", has had me calling the Spring Boks that ever since.
Seems annoy Saffa mates, so I will continue with it.
Note to self: never watch that Netflix show Baby Reindeer
@W32 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Snowy said in England Vs All Blacks:
While we're on nicknames, that Netflix show "Baby Reindeer", has had me calling the Spring Boks that ever since.
Seems annoy Saffa mates, so I will continue with it.
Note to self: never watch that Netflix show Baby Reindeer
That is actually very good advice.
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@W32 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:
Black Bomb Cohort
Gastro sufferers?
Blacked?
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@W32 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:
Black Bomb Cohort
Gastro sufferers?
Blacked?
@Boourns said in England Vs All Blacks:
@W32 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:
Black Bomb Cohort
Gastro sufferers?
Blacked?
Sorry my twisted sense of humor kicked in. Black bomb cohort sounds like a group of people suffering from irritable bowl syndrome.
Sponsored by Depends
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Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
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Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
That is absurd to me. He has gaping holes in his game he needs to address.
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Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
@Canes4life it has, along with Beehre & CLW given Finau & Jacobsen heading home (family illness and concussion respectively)
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@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
That is absurd to me. He has gaping holes in his game he needs to address.
@antipodean said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
That is absurd to me. He has gaping holes in his game he needs to address.
So does Reece, so does Carter. So did NMS. So did Jonah.
And it's just for training. -
@Canes4life it has, along with Beehre & CLW given Finau & Jacobsen heading home (family illness and concussion respectively)
@taniwharugby said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Canes4life it has, along with Beehre & CLW given Finau & Jacobsen heading home (family illness and concussion respectively)
Finau's family are probably sick of waiting for him to get a run.
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@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
That is absurd to me. He has gaping holes in his game he needs to address.
@antipodean said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
That is absurd to me. He has gaping holes in his game he needs to address.
I think it's tough to judge him on the shitshow that was the Auckland NPC season where nearly everyone looked bad - if he was on the wing for Otago in the NPC as a comparison....
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@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
Not sure if this has been posted but Caleb Tangitau has joined the ABs squad in London.
That is absurd to me. He has gaping holes in his game he needs to address.
@antipodean attack wise Tangitau is a weapon 14 tries in 15 games in 2025 and let's not forget before his groin injury in super this year he had gained more metres in play than international outsides Will Jordan, Tom Wright, Sevu Reece, Caleb Clarke, Harry Potter & Max Jorgensen. there's only been 1 specific instance where I vividly remember him being well beaten in the air by the big Turbos winger Filimone. any and all deficiencies can be worked on by the guidance of Robertson & Ellison
