The Stats Zone
July 5 2024, 20:42 · Rob Esteva

New Zealand vs England Preview & Prediction | 2024 Summer Internationals

New Zealand vs England Preview & Prediction | 2024 Summer Internationals

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INTRO STATEMENT BRIEFLY SUMMING UP THE CONTEXT OF THE MATCH

START DATE/TIME: UK – Saturday, July 6th at 8.05am / US ET – Saturday, July 6th at 3.05am / US PT – Saturday, July 6th at 12.05am

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Action / US – the match will be streaming on FloRugby and the FloSports app.

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – SkyGo app / US – the match will be streaming on FloRugby and the FloSports app.

NEW ZEALAND FORM: NEW ERA FOR THE ALL BLACKS UNDER ROBERTSON BEGINS

The last match that the All Blacks played was the World Cup final back in November when they lost by a solitary point while playing with a man less for most of the game. Since then, they have replaced Ian Foster with Scott Robertson at the helm and the new head coach has had a positive reception with genuine excitement around his appointment. The big question will be whether he can bring to the All Blacks what he brought to Crusaders and a positive start to his tenure will only help his cause.

LAST FIVE: LWWWW

ENGLAND FORM: BORTHWICK’S MEN TO BRING THE FLARE

England were in devastating form against Japan two weeks ago in their first summer international and they will look to bring the flare and creativity and match the hosts in that department. While they did not win the Six Nations, there was good positivity around their last few performances especially and they travel to Dunedin motivated to test themselves in one of the most daunting environments in world rugby.

LAST FIVE: WLWLW

NEW ZEALAND TEAM NEWS: PEROFETA GETS NOD AT FULL-BACK

The big news for the All Blacks is that Stephen Perofeta gets the start at full-back ahead of Beauden Barrett so it will be interesting to see how that works out.

This match also represents Scott Barrett’s first as captain which combined with Robertson’s first match in change, means there are a number of firsts for the hosts.

SQUAD:

15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot

REPLACEMENTS:

16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett

ENGLAND TEAM NEWS: NICE BLEND OF FLARE AND EXPERIENCE FOR BORTHWICK

This is no time to be experimenting for England coach Scott Borthwick as they aim to win a Test series for the very first time in New Zealand. They have a number of experienced campaigners in the ranks like Joe Marler, Jamie George and Maro Itoje and that will be just as vital as the flare and creativity brought by the likes of Marcus Smith and company.

SQUAD:

15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Joe Marler

REPLACEMENTS:

16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Ollie Sleightholme

NEW ZEALAND VS ENGLAND PREDICTION

What a game to properly kick off the summer internationals as the All Blacks welcome England at the Forsyth Bar Stadium in Dunedin. There is more uncertainty around the hosts under a new coach as they appear to be going through something of a transition. Despite finishing as runners-up in the World Cup, that masked some below par times by their lofty standards in the few years prior to that and Robertson will be keen to make home turf a fortress once again.

This not the easiest of assignments for them however as England are developing nicely. There is plenty to like about England’s game and there is every chance there is more cohesion around their team and play than the hosts. Robertson will have his men fired up big time however and that along with home advantage will just about give them the edge.

NEW ZEALAND VS ENGLAND TIP: NEW ZEALAND DRAW NO BET