Autumn Nations Series Preview: England v All Blacks
Everything you need to know as Steve Borthwick’s team begin their 2024 Autumn Nations Series campaign by hosting New Zealand on Saturday 2 November at 15:10 GMT.
England return to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham for the first time since their dramatic 23-22 win over Ireland during the Six Nations.
It will be the team’s first Test since the summer tour of Japan and New Zealand, where they twice came close to beating the All Blacks on their own turf.
| Where | Allianz Stadium, Twickenham |
| When | Saturday 2 November |
| Kick-off | 15:10 |
| Where to watch | TNT Sports |
Last time out
Stats & facts
England have won three of their last four Test matches on home soil (L1), including their most recent to deny Ireland a Grand Slam in this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
Ben Earl made the most carries (73) of any player in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations this year and beat the most defenders of any forward (24); the Saracens back row also made the most carries of any player during England’s Test series against New Zealand in July (44).
New Zealand recorded the best lineout success rate in The Rugby Championship this year (89%) and England had the joint-best lineout success rate in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations (91%, also Ireland).
Fin Baxter made the most successful tackles in England's last Test against New Zealand, completing 100% of his 14 tackles, while Jamie George also completed all of his 13 tackles.
Sale Sharks' identical twins Tom and Ben Curry are in the match day 23 for England for the first time, with Tom starting at openside flanker and Ben among the replacements.
Match day 23
Keep your eyes on
- Ben Spencer to make his first start for England. The Bath scrum half has played six times for his country, but each of those has been as a replacement. Saturday will see him have a say from the start.
- Ellis Genge to return. When England toured Japan and New Zealand, they did so without Genge, who last played for England in the narrow 33-31 loss to France during the Six Nations.
- Danger on the wing. Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored from cross-field kicks in the second Test against the All Blacks over summer.
Previous encounters
2024: New Zealand 24-17 England
2024: New Zealand 16-15 England
2022: England 25-25 New Zealand
2019: England 19-7 New Zealand
2018: England 15-16 New Zealand
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
England beaten by All Blacks in Autumn opener
Despite an Immanuel Feyi-Waboso score and 17 points from the boot of Marcus Smith, a late Mark Tele'a try and Damian McKenzie conversion saw England fall 22-24 to New Zealand.
In their first home Test since March England got off to an enterprising start, with clever cross-field kicks intended to exploit space probed into the air, Feyi-Waboso proving an aerial threat early on.
Borthwick’s men also showed great interlinking play as forwards and backs combined to build phases, command possession and dictate tempo to earn territory.
Smith opened the host’s account on the four-minute mark with a simple penalty, but New Zealand struck back just minutes later. Mark Tele'a took advantage of a one-on-one after Wallace Sititi sucked in two English defenders to offload into the winger’s path for an easy score. Beauden Barrett added the extras for a 3-7 lead after 10 mins.
Ill discipline in defence from the All Blacks allowed Smith another three-pointer which he duly struck over, closing the gap to a single point, but as half hour approached Will Jordan sliced through England’s line, cantering in from 30 metres. Barrett, who assisted the try, converted the effort to give the visitors an eight-point buffer.
Another tackle off the ball from the All Blacks led to Smith’s ninth point of the Test, as England refused to be bullied, and a momentum-shifting tackle from Chandler Cunningham-South was the catalyst behind another penalty, which Smith sent through the uprights moments before half-time to make it 12-14.
Despite the close scoreline, the stats at the break showed a dominant kiwi performance, as they boasted more metres, carries, clean breaks and offloads, as well as beating more defenders than England.
The moment of the match came four minutes into the resumption. Deep inside his own half Smith turned defence into attack in a flash with a fantastic intercept. The fly-half accelerated away and made it 50 metres before feeding George Furbank, who immediately provided a try assist pass to Feyi-Waboso. The successful conversion made it 19-14.
A Barrett try on the hour mark was ruled out because of an earlier deliberate Caleb Clarke knock on, and reversed to a penalty. Up stepped Smith to claim his fifth penalty - keeping his perfect record off the tee in tact - and opening an eight-point lead.
Replacement Damian McKenzie reduced the deficit to five points with a neatly taken penalty on 67 minutes, as New Zealand seemingly wrestled the match away from England with a second Tele'a try. McKenzie's extras from out wide making it 22-24.
Anton Lienert-Brown was shown a yellow card in the final three minutes of the match for a dangerous tackle on Theo Dan, giving replacement fly-half George Ford an opportunity at posts. The Sale Sharks man struck the uprights, and New Zealand fumbled the collection at the base of the posts. The resulting scrum and phases of English attack set Ford up for a drop goal finish, but the effort was pushed wide.
