England must rise to the task
ENGLAND forwards coach Graham Rowntree believes his team must move up a gear if they are to meet the challenge of beating world champions New Zealand at Twickenham.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster names his XV this morning to start the final autumn international following home wins against Australia and Argentina.
England are the only team to have beaten New Zealand since 2011 and have lost just once themselves in the last 12 months.
But Rowntree feels his team must find a new level if they are to repeat last year’s 38-21 record win.
“Last year was a famous victory for us and the game at the weekend is a great challenge for this group of players,” he said.
“It’s exactly what we need at this point in time. We respect their record, but we’ll be going full out to spoil it. We’ll have to go to new levels this weekend.
“We won’t be daunted. This is Twickenham, our stadium. We have lots to prove.”