(Reuters) – England captain Jamie George has challenged his players to make a strong impression on their New Zealand counterparts after winger Sevu Reece said he did not know much about the touring side.
The teams meet in Saturday’s series-opener in Dunedin for their first test since a 25-25 draw at Twickenham in 2022, with England trying to end a losing streak in New Zealand dating back over 20 years.
Reece said this week that the All Blacks had prepared really well under new coach Scott Robertson but conceded he was in the dark about his direct opponents.
“I don’t really know much about them, we have just been trying be familiar with the way we want to play,” he told reporters.
“This week has been on ourselves and getting familiar with our roles. Come game time we are going to see which back three comes out on top.”
An unimpressed George said England always wanted to know who their opponents were.
“It’s an interesting one, isn’t it?” he told reporters on Friday.
“I’m not in their camp, I don’t know whether there is any mind games in what they are saying.
“I know that that was certainly said in 2017 on the Lions tour. The message then was by the end of that series they are certainly going to know who we are.
“That is certainly the message again from me and this England team.”
The Lions came back from a 1-0 deficit on their 2017 tour of New Zealand to split the three-test series after the teams finished locked at 15-15 in the decider.
George said he had regrets about the opening match of that 2017 tour, feeling that the Lions may have respected their opponents too much before they fell 30-15 at Eden Park.
He urged England not to go in with the same mindset.
“We can’t sit back and wait because, if we do, we’ll behind our poles 20 points down trying to create some sort of comeback,” he said.
“You have to respect what the All Blacks are about but, at the same time, I don’t think that should ever take away from how we set the tone.
“The challenge we’ve laid down is that we play at our physicality and our intensity. We’ll know whether we’re there or not within the first few minutes after kick-off.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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