'We'll show New Zealand who we are in semifinal' says Courtney Lawes

Courtney Lawes has insisted that the All Blacks will know all about England on Saturday in reference to Brodie Retallick’s infamous slip of the tongue five years ago.

When England last played in New Zealand in 2014, the All Blacks secondrow Retallick failed to name a single member of touring party. When asked if he knew any of the England squad he replied by saying, “a couple”, before venturing “Michael Laws”, as he seemingly confused the England lock with the former Mayor of Whanganui.

Retallick was reminded of the incident earlier this week and reacted furiously, staring down his inquisitor before biting back. “Is that supposed to be humorous? I made a mistake, called them the wrong name, the name of a New Zealand politician. Good on you.”

Lawes, who lines up in the second row directly against Retallick, was asked whether he thought the All Blacks knew much about their opponents. He said: “If they don’t, then they will tomorrow, it’s just one of those things mate! We will just get on with it.”

Meanwhile, England were forced to review their travel plans for the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand after their final training session at Yokohama Stadium was delayed due to traffic congestion. Eddie Jones has based his squad to the east of Tokyo at the Disneyland resort, 30 miles away from the stadium with an average journey time of more than an hour. England’s assistant coach, Neal Hatley, played down the impact it would have on their travel plans but conceded their arrangements would be looked at. “The rain was a bit of a factor,” he said. “It was about 10 minutes longer than expected so we’ll have a look.”