The international window only officially starts the following week but the northern hemisphere Autumn International season gets off to what should be a blockbusting start this weekend as England host the All Blacks at what used to be Twickenham but has been renamed the Allianz Stadium.
After surrendering the Castle Lager Rugby Championship to the world champion Springboks during the southern hemisphere international season, the All Blacks will feel they have much to prove on a tour that was always earmarked as their toughest few weeks of this first post World Cup year.
They beat Japan in Tokyo at the start of their tour last week but that was effectively the only game that the New Zealanders were always certain to win. From here on it gets much tougher for them, with their game against an England team that gave them a good go on their own soil back in July being followed just six days later by their clash with the world’s No 1 ranked team, Ireland.
The Dublin game has been scheduled for a Friday, so the Kiwis will at least have an extra day to catch their breath before they play France in Paris on 16 November, which of course is the same day as the Boks will be in London to play England. Last year’s beaten World Cup finalists then head to Italy for their final game of a long and tough tour.
FOCUS ON ENGLAND DEFENSIVE SYSTEM
Saturday’s clash in London will tell us just how tough it might be. England have lost their defence coach, the former Bok assistant Felix Jones, who was rumoured to be heading to Munster to replace Graham Rowntree but that has been denied by England coach Steve Borthwick, since last they played, and it will be interesting to see what defensive strategy they employ.
When the two teams played in New Zealand, the All Blacks had to deal with a rush or blitz defence scripted by Jones from the Jacques Nienaber copy book, but a change of personnel could mean a change of approach. If so, how quickly will England adapt.
Borthwick has selected Henry Slade in the centre even though he has played just one club game after a long injury layoff, while Marcus Smith continues to be Borthwick’s go too man at flyhalf in the continued absence of Owen Farrell, who retired from international rugby after the last World Cup.
The All Blacks are only set to name their team on Thursday but are expected to line up Beauden Barrett at No 10 against Smith, and the former World Player of the Year will be out to disprove critics who feel that age is catching up with him and his best days are behind him.
The Boks enter the fray the following week (it’s a Sunday game) when they head from their current training base on the island of Jersey to Edinburgh, where it will be interesting to see what impact on the Scottish confidence might have been derived from recent Glasgow Warriors successes in South Africa.
Make no mistake though, the big game of the Bok tour is the one at Twickenham the following week, whereas with the All Blacks it is hard to pinpoint which of their games is the biggest – a game against England always attracts massive attention, but they follow up their clash with Ireland with one against France in Paris.
ALL BLACKS SEEK REVENGE AGAINST FRENCH
The 2023 World Cup hosts beat the All Blacks in the opening game to the last global event and the New Zealanders will be eager to reverse that result and prove that perceptions of an incremental improvement during the course of Scott Robertson’s first season as coach were not just a mirage.
Australia have of course seen both their influence and drawing power wane in recent times, but with a British and Irish Lions series on the horizon, it won’t only be themselves that will be hoping they can finally start to gather some momentum under Joe Schmidt.
The big games of their tour are the one against Australia on 9 November and the last one, which falls outside of the international window, against Ireland on 30 November. That game will see Schmidt plotting against his old team, which will add extra interest, but much will depend on how the Wallabies have developed in their games building up to that. You sense that the days where they have a chance of beating the likes of England and Ireland away are long gone.
They do face a tough tour as it also incorporates fixtures against Wales and Scotland, meaning that they effectively face a Grand Slam opportunity.
Northern Hemisphere Autumn Internationals
ENGLAND FIXTURES (note change of name from Twickenham to Allianz Stadium)
England v New Zealand (London, Saturday 2 November, 17.10)
England v Australia (London, Saturday 9 November, 17.10)
England v South Africa (London, Saturday 16 November, 19.40)
England v Japan (London, Saturday 24 November, 18.10)
IRELAND FIXTURES
Ireland v New Zealand (Dublin, Friday 8 November, 22.10)
Ireland v Argentina (Dublin, Friday 15 November, 22.10)
Ireland v Fiji (Dublin, Saturday 23 November, 17.10)
Ireland v Australia (Dublin, Saturday 30 November, 17.10)
WALES FIXTURES
Wales v Fiji (Cardiff, Sunday 10 November, 15.40)
Wales v Australia (Cardiff, Sunday 17 November, 18.10)
Wales v South Africa (Cardiff, Saturday 23 November, 19.40)
SCOTLAND FIXTURES
Scotland v Fiji (Edinburgh, Saturday 2 November, 19.40)
Scotland v South Africa (Edinburgh, Sunday 10 November, 18.10)
Scotland v Portugal (Edinburgh, Saturday 16 November, 17.10)
Scotland v Australia (Edinburgh, Sunday 24 November, 15.40)
FRANCE FIXTURES
France v Fiji (Paris, Saturday 8 November, 21.10)
France v New Zealand (Paris, Saturday 16 November, 21.10)
France v Argentina (Paris, Friday 22 November, 21.10)
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