England struggling ahead of NZ visit

Autumn Internationals England slumpIt is less than three years since England won the World Cup in Sydney, but they approach the first of next month's four internationals against the number one-ranked side in the world, New Zealand, on the back of their worst run of results for more than 30 years and with the Guinness Premiership sides struggling to make any impact in cross-border tournaments.

The really bad news for the national head coach Andy Robinson, however, is that, unlike South Africa and Australia, the All Blacks are not using their tour to try out combinations or give fringe players a run.

England have failed to challenge for the Six Nations title since they won the grand slam in 2003, and the malaise has spread to the clubs. Five of the Premiership sides in the Heineken European Cup lost their opening group matches at the weekend - Wasps were the exception, and they made hard work of defeating Castres at home - while the Anglo-Welsh games in the EDF Energy Cup earlier this month brought six defeats in eight matches.

Premiership clubs have won three out of 14 cross-border matches this season, with no one avoiding defeat on the road, and, with the notable exception of Gloucester, they have paled in comparison to the Irish provinces and Welsh regions in terms of style: the English clubs reflect the national side, or vice-versa, in making very little of a lot of possession.

The New Zealand fixture, on Sunday, November 5th, was not originally on the list. It was arranged late to mark the opening of the new South Stand at Twickenham, and while the Rugby Football Union could not have made a better choice of opponent in terms of crowd-pulling potential, the All Blacks would not have been the choice of Robinson.

"England's fall since they won the World Cup has been surprising," said the New Zealand attack coach, Wayne Smith, a former Northampton director of rugby. "If they had their time again, I am sure they would do things differently after that day in Sydney, but they did lose a number of experienced players through retirement or injury. We expect something from them next month: there is no such thing as an easy game at Twickenham and they will be waiting for us. It will be one hell of a battle. In past years, we have adopted a rotation policy, but we are now focusing on the match squad of 22."

England's European Cup woes started on Friday night when London Irish lost at home to Llanelli Scarlets and the Premiership champions Sale lost to the Ospreys in Swansea despite dominating possession and position.

"It was a bitterly disappointing result," said the Sale coach Kingsley Jones. "We cut their defensive line four times but failed to finish off and we only had ourselves to blame when we lost it at the end. It has not been a particularly good season in the Premiership (and) only Bristol and Gloucester have played at or near their potential, but I do not think that recent results in the European and EDF Energy cups show that standards are slipping.

"At the same time, the standard of the Magners League has risen, as it was always going to do with Welsh, Irish and Scottish players concentrated in relatively few sides. The French league is much the same as the Premiership with only two clubs in consistent form, but things change: the destiny of the European Cup is not settled on the opening weekend and there is no reason for anyone in England to panic."

Robinson will not be able to gather his players together until after next weekend's European Cup matches, but his New Zealand counterpart, Graham Henry, has ordered that his leading 22 players will miss the first half of next year's Super 14 to take part in a conditioning programme.

"It is 20 years since New Zealand won the World Cup and in the second most fanatical rugby nation, after Wales, we are constantly reminded of that fact," said Henry.

"We won the Tri-Nations despite playing to only 75 per cent of our potential and we need to improve. England have more players than any other country and they will be a major force in the World Cup, but perhaps they will not be out in front of the other home unions this time. This tour is a big one for us; it is our last chance to play in Europe before the World Cup."