England target All Blacks clash in November
— England could play New Zealand a year earlier than scheduled if they can get an agreement to face the world champions at Twickenham on November 4, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
A quirk of the international fixture schedule means that New Zealand and England — the top two teams in the world rankings — are not currently due to meet again until 2018.
But the prospect of New Zealand playing England before then has been given added spice by the knowledge that a victory for already-crowned Six Nations champions England against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday would see them surpass the All Blacks’ record of 18 successive Test wins by a major rugby union side.
However, England have not faced New Zealand during their winning run, with their last match against the All Blacks a 24-21 loss at Twickenham in 2014. New Zealand are due to play the Barbarians at Twickenham on November 4 in a match marking the invitational club’s 125th anniversary. But according to the Mail, Ian Ritchie — the chief executive of England’s governing Rugby Football Union — is lobbying to get the All Blacks to face England on that date instead. The Mail added that the major sticking point was over how the money generated from a likely 82,000 sell-out crowd would be divided, with the New Zealand Rugby Union — well aware of the All Blacks’ worth — reportedly seeking a 50 percent share of the gate receipts, a figure equating to £3 million ($3.6 million, 3.4 million euros) from the RFU, the world’s wealthiest rugby union.
An RFU spokesman told Britain’s Press Association on Wednesday: “We are scheduled to play New Zealand in 2018 and if an opportunity came up to play them before then we would pursue it.”