England revenge not on All Blacks' minds

New Zealand insist revenge for their only loss in their past 33 Tests, against England last year, will not be on their mind at Twickenham this weekend.

New Zealand will look to make it 13 wins out of 13 this year when they face England at Twickenham on Saturday.

The world champions' lone loss in their past 33 Tests was a record 38-21 defeat by England, the 2015 World Cup hosts, at Twickenham last year, when the tourists were struck by a viral infection in the days leading up to the match.

But don't mention "revenge" to New Zealand coach Steve Hansen.

"There are a lot of people who have banded the word 'revenge' around but it is one of the silliest words you can use in rugby," Hansen said.

"It is too strong a word, revenge is quite a hateful word. What it is is an opportunity to see if we have improved, to see if we are good enough to beat England.

"We weren't last year, they were first, daylight was second and we were third - I would rather see this as an opportunity rather than the word revenge.

"What we are trying to do is strive to be better than we are, which is number one," added Hansen ahead of a match where fly-half Dan Carter is set to become only the fifth All Black to win 100 caps.

"If you don't look to improve yourself you are going to go backwards so, for us, our whole aim as a group of players, coaches and management is to be better than we were the week before.

"There is no such thing as a perfect performance but that is what we strive to do."

Hansen's mood may not have been improved by revelations in the British media earlier this week of a statement written on a whiteboard in New Zealand's team room which said: "We are the most dominant team in the history of the world."

Not that England coach Stuart Lancaster was in a mood to disagree.

"When teams win a World Cup they traditionally take a dip, maybe rest on their laurels, but they have managed to retain the hunger and desire to keep wining," Lancaster said.

"In world sport could you tell me a team that has a record like that internationally?

"So, yes, this is the best team."

New Zealand-born England hooker Dylan Hartley is set to win his 50th cap this weekend.

And while he was a member of a pack that dominated the first half of last week's 31-12 win over Argentina, the way England tailed off in the second period against the Pumas was cause for concern.

However, Lancaster has made just one change to his starting side, recalling prop Dan Cole in place of David Wilson.

In 35 Tests dating back more than a hundred years, England have beaten New Zealand on just seven occasions, suffering 27 defeats with one draw.


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Source: AAP


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