Friday 7 November 2014 15:23, UK
Andy Farrell accepts England will have to be ‘streetwise’ as they begin their year of preparation for the Rugby World Cup in the toughest way possible.
England host New Zealand in the first of their autumn internationals at Twickenham and the first part of a 12-month build to the tournament, which also takes place on home soil.
The All Blacks were beaten at Twickenham two years ago but won a Test series in the Southern Hemisphere 3-0 against a weakened England side.
Farrell is pleased the national side’s most difficult game of the autumn is also their first and says the squad can’t wait to begin their World Cup countdown against the reigning champions.
“The players are ready and super-excited – it doesn’t get any better than playing the best team in the world in the first game in what is a pretty important year for us,” Farrell told Sky Sports News.
“We’ve had two weeks of preparation and the lads are dying to get out there to see if they can put those skills into practice in the heat of the battle at Twickenham.
“We want to play as disciplined a game as we can because we are playing a very good side and we all need to be a little bit streetwise.
“A lot of that comes down to experience and we’re building experience as we go along. The bigger the challenge, the better for this group.”
England generally held their own in the recent Test series in New Zealand but were blown away in the first half of the final match in Hamilton, conceding 29 points in its first 34 minutes.
Centre Kyle Eastmond was taken off at half-time on that occasion and goes back into the side at the deep end as he faces a huge and powerful opposite number, Sonny Bill Williams.
Eastmond concedes eight inches in height and almost five stone to Williams but Farrell has no qualms about the selection and is confident the Bath man can reproduce his club form on the national stage.
“It wasn’t a disaster for Kyle in the third Test, we played pretty poorly as a side and we had someone on the bench who could play in his position,” he said..
“It wasn’t just about Kyle that day but his response has been absolutely magnificent. We’ve been thinking about how he can bring his game to the rugby union stage.
“His form has been outstanding this year and he has come to camp as a leader within our attacking system.”
England v New Zealand is live on Sky Sports 2HD from 1.30pm on Saturday.
