England look to Tuilagi for 2012 repeat
GETTING READY FOR AN UPHILL BATTLE, LADS?
ENGLAND will be armed with enhanced firepower for their showdown with the world champions on Saturday in the form of two ghosts from the All Blacks’ shock defeat at Twickenham six years ago. Manu Tuilagi, the destroyer-inchief when Stuart Lancaster’s side stunned New Zealand 38-21, has recovered from the minor groin strain which kept him out of the victory over South Africa and is primed for his first Test appearance since March 2016. In addition, England are boosted by the availability of Northampton lock Courtney Lawes, who can also operate at blindside flanker. The 29-year-old, who was a replacement in England’s famous victory in this fixture in December 2012, missed the autumn opener against the Springboks with a back problem. His presence will add considerable clout to the home side’s defence, as will the presence of Sam Underhill. The rookie Bath openside has been retained in a squad of 25 following confirmation that Sale’s Tom Curry is not only out of this game but the remainder of the four-match Quilter series. The 20-year-old injured his ankle during the epic 12-11 triumph over the Boks and a scan has revealed significant damage. Curry will see a specialist to determine whether he needs surgery. In his absence, Underhill could be promoted as a straight replacement in the No 7 shirt, but Eddie Jones has a multitude of other back-row permutations to consider. The loss of Curry was yet another grim medical bulletin, in line with so many others in the run-up to this November Test campaign, but the recovery of Tuilagi and Lawes offers encouragement when they face the ultimate challenge this weekend. With Chris Ashton in contention to play again, the English ambition is to use the weapons at their disposal and fire plenty of shots. ‘One thing about the All Blacks is that you are going to have to score tries,’ said scrum-half Ben Youngs, another starting member of the victorious 2012 team. ‘I don’t like the word “containing”. It is about going out there and really taking the game to them. For us, it is a great opportunity to play them and go at them.’ England will try to apply the same aggressive mindset in defence as well as attack, with Youngs adding: ‘We looked at bits from the Rugby Championship where we felt defences aren’t as aggressive or creating as much pressure as we would like. ‘A lot of what we do is create that claustrophobic feeling, because if you do give them time and space they will exploit it and pick you off.’