If the first match between England and New Zealand in four years needed any injection of hype then the All Blacks coach, Steve Hansen, delivered it when he suggested that Saturday’s encounter is bigger than last year’s British & Irish Lions tour.
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The drawn Lions series, the only major blemish of Hansen’s seven-year reign, will clearly serve as motivation for New Zealand at Twickenham. Frequently reminded of the 1-1 result of the series, the All Blacks meet England and Ireland, both of whom feature many familiar faces from the Lions, over the next two weeks.
“I think it’s even bigger than that actually,” Hansen said of the Test at Twickenham after naming the 23 for the match. “The Lions tour has made it bigger because we weren’t successful in only drawing the series. That, to us, wasn’t successful. That’s made this week have a sharper edge to it, which is good.”
While England’s leading Lions – Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Ben Te’o, Elliot Daly and Jamie George – will attempt to implement the experience acquired from their New Zealand excursion last year, the All Blacks are confident the necessary adjustments have been made.
“We did a lot of looking back at the time,” Hansen said. “That year you can look at it and say the Lions series was a gift because there were a lot of things we didn’t do well. We haven’t wasted much time looking back at it over the last few weeks, no.