England have vowed to get in the All Blacks' faces today as the two heavyweights collide in a first Test battle for world rugby supremacy.
There has been no shortage of passion in the build-up to the match where a win for New Zealand will see them topple England from their number one ranking on the International Rugby Board ladder.
"This will be the yardstick that we are measured by," said New Zealand captain Tana Umaga, as a revamped All Blacks squad under new coach Graham Henry wrapped up their training yesterday.
The two rugby powers have opposite strengths. England favor their immense forward power and have concocted a plan they feel will nullify the explosive All Blacks backs which are "probably the most exciting and dangerous in world rugby," according to England assistant coach Phil Larder.
"The most important thing about playing these guys is to play in their faces, so we've got to get up there and get amongst them, it means we'll work very, very hard to slow the ball down," Larder said.
Head coach, Sir Clive Woodward rates the pack that will take to the field today as one of the most powerful he has assembled.
"We will have a forward pack that will probably be stronger than the World Cup forward pack," he said. "And that's not an idle boast. They could be."
The touchpaper for what promises to be a bone-jarring encounter has been lit by New Zealand's experienced scrum-half Justin Marshall, who branded England "arrogant" for their behavior after previous wins over the All Blacks.
"When they did manage to win against us, they were so arrogant with their parading round the ground, it hacked us off," Marshall.
"Now that they are top of the world, it makes it worse. I'd like not to say anything that gets them fired up, but there's no point lying about it. That's how it is. There is huge satisfaction in beating England."
England have arrived in New Zealand well-drilled from their home season, while Henry admits to being apprehensive about playing the world champions in his first match in charge.
"There's a few butterflies about playing the world champions without a build-up game and the respect I've got for them and that puts an extra edge on the game," he said.
"We thought we had [the team] sorted before the trial and finished up with one player playing in the pack [from the shadow All Blacks trial team] so the preparation going into the trial for the forward pack was a non-event really so we had to start again."
Not surprisingly, the All Blacks focus in training this week has been on forward drills, even to the extent of additional scrummaging practise at the end of the training session yesterday.
England "are the pinnacle of forward play throughout the world," said Umaga, a linchpin of the All Black backline.
"That's where the game starts, is won and lost really so we have to get on top of them there.
"As backs we have to complement everything they do and I don't think we'll get many chances but the chances we do get we have to finish.
The precise details of how the new model All Blacks under Henry will perform differently from former coach John Mitchell's beaten World Cup vintage -- apart from fielding a heavier forward pack -- are under wraps.
They are unlikely, however, to fall into the same trap as the World Cup side who failed to change tactics when things went awry during their semifinal against Australia.
"We've got a tactical plan for the game which is quite new and I guess if you want to use the jargon we've got a plan B," said Henry.
Umaga would not talk about the new tactical gameplans instilled in the team other than saying wait until today and "we'll see of any of these philosophies work."
South Africa vs Ireland
Ireland are expected to make history in the first match of their two-test series against an under strength South Africa today.
The Triple Crown holders have never beaten the Springboks on South African soil and a win in Bloemfontein would also set up the chance of Ireland's first series win in the southern hemisphere since a 2-0 victory in Australia in 1979.
Ireland have named an unchanged side from the one that clinched the Triple Crown against Scotland in their last test.
The Springboks, however, have a new coach and are playing against a backdrop of on-going administrative squabbles.
In the last six months several leading officials have resigned while the players' union is in dispute with their employers over board level representation.
New coach Jake White has also lost six players to injury from the 22-man squad he named at the start of a three-week training camp.
Loose forward Juan Smith became the latest casualty on Thursday when he pulled a hamstring at training, joining fullback Percy Montgomery (hand), wing Ashwin Willemse (knee), centre De Wet Barry (ankle), flank Joe van Niekerk (groin) and prop Faan Rautenbach (knee) as players to withdraw through injury.
The team also contains three debutants -- wing Henno Mentz, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and tighthead prop Eddie Andrews.
"It's difficult to know what to expect from them," said Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan. "They are physical and athletic and they have the ability ... to offload in the tackle.
Springbok forward coach Gert Smal -- assisting a third different head coach -- predicted a tough battle in the forwards.
"I'm excited with what we have got in the pack ... and I think it's going to be a great contest," said Smal. "We have done a lot of analysis on the Irish and I rate their locks as two of the best in the world."
Ireland have won only once in their 14 meetings with South Africa and lost their last four games by 10 or more points, though no-one is expecting a repeat of those results.
Australia vs Scotland
Despite missing several key players, including half their backline, Australia should record a big win in Melbourne tomorrow against a Scotland side who finished bottom of the Six Nations championship.
The Wallabies have spent most of the past seven months licking their wounds after their injury-time loss to England in last year's World Cup final but are now finally looking to the future.
Although Australia coach Eddie Jones has warned his players about the danger of complacency he is clearly treating the series as a warm-up for the World Cup final rematch with England on June 26.
Jones has included two new caps in his lineup, blindside flanker Radike Samo and outside center Clyde Rathbone, as well as abandoning his experiment of playing two specialist openside flankers.
Australia's reliance on the individual brilliance of their backs was exposed in the World Cup when England attacked their set pieces, dominating the scrums and lineouts.
The Scots also stole some crucial balls from the Wallabies during their quarterfinal, which Australia eventually won 33-16, giving Jones some cause for concern.
"While winning is important, the quality of our performance is more important to us," Jones said.
"They're going to be a challenge for us, especially in the forwards, most Scottish sides are. It took us 50 minutes to get over the top of them in the World Cup."
The Scots haven't beaten Australia in 22 years, suffering a sequence of 11 consecutive losses, and have won just one test against all opposition in the past seven months.
They were heavily beaten in their lead-up games against Queensland and New South Wales and have been crippled by injuries, including the loss of fullback Chris Paterson, who fractured his cheekbone in last weekend's win over Samoa.
Wales vs Argentina
A resurgent Wales will test their depth when they face a severely depleted Argentina side today in the first of a two-test series.
Argentina are without several first-choice players, including captain Agustin Pinchot, and outside backs Juan Martin Hernandez and Ignacio Corleto, who still have commitments with Stade Francais in the French club playoffs.
Perpignan lock Rimas Alvarez is also involved in the playoffs and not available for the test in Tucuman.
Winger Diego Albanese made himself unavailable because his wife is heavily pregnant, while former captain Lisandro Arbizu is still recovering from a knee injury that ruled him out of last year's World Cup.
Coach Marcelo Loffreda had initially named a 26-man squad drawn from the core of his World Cup side. However, he supplemented it with several newcomers who cut their international teeth playing for a home-based Argentina side that won the South American championship.
The absence of several top players could not come at a worse time for him, with the Pumas facing New Zealand on June 26 in Hamilton after the Wales series.
Wales, meanwhile have plenty to prove under new coach Mike Ruddock, on his first tour since taking over from Steve Hansen, who has returned to his native New Zealand to be an assistant to All Blacks coach Graham Henry.
Wales lost 10 matches in a row last year but then played rugby reminiscent of their glory days by pushing New Zealand and eventual champions England close during the group stages of the World Cup in Australia.
They followed that performance with an improved showing in this year's Six Nations, beating Scotland and Italy and losing to champions France and England by just seven and 10 points, respectively.
If building on their resurgence was not enough motivation for the visitors, lock Gareth Llewellyn will become his country's highest-capped player with his 88th test match appearance today.
They are, however, also missing first-choice players in flyhalf Stephen Jones, lock Robert Sidoli, hooker Robin McBryde, flanker Martyn Williams and utility back Gareth Thomas.
Their absence has paved the way for loose forward Jason Forster to make his debut and Hal Luscombe, who will make his second appearance.
"We've got a lot of players unavailable to us but I'm very happy with the squad we've got," said Ruddock.
"When I sat down and planned the squad for the test matches against Argentina, I had an idea of the sort of line-up I'd like to put out for the first test."
The second test is in Buenos Aires on June 19.
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