England host the All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday as the November Internationals get under way and when these sides met in New Zealand earlier this year there was very little in it.
New Zealand v England, Saturday 2nd November, Twickenham, KO 17:10 (South African time)
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
Weather Forecast: Twickenham
England:
England return to international action for the first time since July when they also took on the All Blacks in a 2 match series in New Zealand. They put in 2 big performances, edged out in the first test 16-15 and they went down in the second test 24-17. England had tuned up for that tour with a 52-17 victory over Japan in Tokyo.
In the Six Nations earlier this year England finished third with their stand out result being a 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham in Round 4 which ultimately denied Ireland another Grand Slam. They started that tournament with a 27-24 win in Italy and then beat Wales 16-14 at Twickenham. Next up they went down 30-21 in Scotland and after turning the Irish over England finished up by going down 33-31 in France.
New Zealand:
They All Blacks were in Yokohoma for a clash with Japan last week, they fielded a number of fringe players but still came away with a 64-19 victory.
Their recent Rugby Championship campaign comprised of 3 wins and 3 defeats and they came in as distant runners up to the Springboks. They finished with back to back wins over Australia (31-28 in Sydney and finally 33-13 in Wellington) and retained the Bledisloe Cup.
Back to back defeats to the Boks in South Africa in Rounds 3 and 4 ended their title hopes and they were in winning positions in both matches. In Round 4 in Cape Town they went 18-12 whilst they led the Boks 27-17 with just over 10 minutes remaining in Johannesburg but they were reduced to 14 men and eventually finished beaten 31-27.
New Zealand's first two Rugby Championship matches came at home to Argentina and they delivered vastly contrasting results. In the opening round in Wellington they lost 38-30 but in Round 2 in Auckland they bounced back and in some style, running out 42-10 winners.
Team News
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Alex Dombrandt, 22 Harry Randall, 23 George Ford
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cam Roigard, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie
Recent Head to Head
Aside from the aforementioned 2 match series in July this year the previous meeting came in November 2022 at Twickenham and it finished in a draw (25-25).
In RWC 2019 in Japan England beat the All Blacks 19-7 in the semi finals
The Betting
Update 01 November 08h36
England +4.5 points
New Zealand -3.5 points
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 08h38 1 Nov
The handicap for this game has been fairly stable all week although I sense New Zealand are attracting more support with the +4.5 England now available vs. the average line of +3.5.
I am going to wait for more bookmakers to price up on points lines before placing my bet(s) but for now a try scorer play.
Cam Roigard is back and will come off the bench. He has a keen eye for the try line and I am backing him to be New Zealands last try scorer which should ensure an interest right till the end of the match.
Main bet will follow.
BET: 0.5 unit Roigard Last New Zealand Try Scorer at 9/1 at Pokerbet*
*You can open a Pokerbet Account by clicking here
Posted 1 Nov 14h51
The total points lines are out and we are looking at from 47.5 to 49.5 depending on your bookie.
I like the overs but am in agreement with Southpaw in the forum that the New Zealand over 25.5 is most tempting.
I really like the side Razor has selected here and fancy them to get off to a fast start.
BET: 5 units New Zealand over 25.5 at 0.81/1 at Betway*
*If you don’t have a Betway account please use this link to open one and use the Promo code GFTG!
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
