The November internationals are set to kick off with a thrilling fixture between the All Blacks and England at the Allianz Stadium (the old Twickenham) in London on Saturday, 2 November.
Kick-off is at 17:10 (SA time).
A resurgent England will be looking to make a statement against an All Blacks team that endured an underwhelming Rugby Championship campaign.
Interestingly, when speaking to Prime Casino, legendary former All Black Tana Umaga criticised his nation’s recent form under new head coach Scott Robertson.
“It is a tough tour coming up. They’ve really set themselves up to challenge themselves. I am not too sure it is really the kind of tour they would have wanted at this stage.
“They got five matches including England, Ireland and France and we can’t overlook Italy where Gonzalo Quesada has got them playing some brilliant rugby.
“They have their work cut out on this tour, no doubt about it. You can’t take anything for granted. The caliber of the teams they are playing is second to none.
“We are in a rebuilding phase. But the sad thing is the current situation is not something we normally associate with the All Blacks. In my time the rebuilding phases were done in the competitions before big tours and not on the tour themselves.
“And they haven’t had the most successful run of games over the summer.”
Will All Blacks bounce back against England?
Umaga also admitted that the All Blacks have lost their aura and are now vulnerable.
“The handover was not seamless with the same team. The wealth of knowledge and experience that left after the World Cup has got to have made a difference. They have left a huge hole.
“It has been a bit of an eye opener for Scott what he has gone into. There was no doubt that he would not have expected to have had the losses that he has had. At the Crusaders he knew nothing but success. He has also seen the gap there is between NPC and Super Rugby and then international rugby.
“Some people don’t appreciate that. Consistency is the tough thing. Not just the consistency of performance, it is the consistency of training, turning up every day ready to do what you need to do. For some players it is a steep learning curve.”
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