All Blacks still wary of wounded England - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

All Blacks still wary of wounded England

By Chris Barclay 24/11/2008 04:22:50 PM Comments (0)

The buoyant All Blacks have arrived in London vowing the pursuit of rugby excellence will beat complacency ahead of a grand slam showdown with struggling England.

New Zealand face an England side under siege since suffering a record loss on home soil to world champions South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.

The magnitude of the 42-6 defeat has prompted a wave of despair in the English press but the All Blacks, publicly at least, have not bought into the doom and gloom enveloping Martin Johnson's new era.

After dispatching Scotland, Ireland and Wales without conceding a try - nor a point in the second half of each Test - All Blacks management and staff are wary of underestimating last year's World Cup runners-up.

"We're not going to read too much into the score from the South African game," said blindside flanker Jerome Kaino, expressing a line sure to be repeated throughout the week.

"The grand slam is not an easy thing to achieve. The boys really want to focus on doing the right things this week."

Assistant coach Steve Hansen emphasised the final week of an arduous season was more about maintaining the side's own exacting standards.

The Springboks match will be analysed but Hansen doubted it would reveal much that they did not already know.

"We've looked at a lot of their games already - I assume that one will confirm most of the stuff we've already seen," he said.

"It's definitely about our standards I think.

"It's about what we do to prepare to play. If we do that honestly and with a real genuine desire then you get to the end of the week and Saturday becomes the fun part."

The team could be excused for having a foot on the plane but Hansen said the prospect of achieving the All Blacks' third grand slam - and the added bonus of becoming the first holder of a trophy honouring Sir Edmund Hillary - would sustain them through the final week.

The team have their first training run on Monday before the 22-man squad is named.

It is unlikely to deviate significantly from the team responsible for retaining the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup before notching wins in Hong Kong - against Australia - Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Each of those Tests have displayed a hallmark of the first choice team - the ability grind teams into submission after absorbing periods of intense pressure.

Wales led 9-3 on the stroke of halftime before the All Blacks piled on 26 unanswered points.

"The guys come in (at halftime), we sit down, we sort out any issues we've got then they go out and deliver it," Hansen said.

Hansen said he was surprised people were concerned it often took the All Blacks time to get a roll on this season.

"It never ceases to amaze me when we say it took us a long time to get in to the game. So it should - it's meant to be a Test match."

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