The pain of losing to England last year still hurts All Blacks coach Steve Hansen but he believes a better preparation this week can help them get their own back at Twickenham.
Hansen was in a forthright mood after arriving by train in London from Paris on Sunday, a day after the All Blacks held off the the strong-finishing France 26-19.
He was pleased to avoid the “banana skin” that France represented and maintain a 40-year unbeaten streak in Paris.
It leaves he and his men clear to concentrate on avenging last year’s 38-21 loss to the English – his only defeat in 26 Tests as head coach.
Hansen believes his team will be improved this time, mainly because his players had been given more opportunities to rest after a testing season, including a week off for several key players while the rest flew to Tokyo to play Japan.
He is also banking on no repeat of the virus that disrupted the preparation for many players ahead of last year’s game.
“It still hurts, we don’t like losing,” Hansen said.
“It was a tough old day, we didn’t have enough energy to compete with the English on the day and they outplayed us.
“That’s something we’ve had to hold onto for quite some time.”
He said he has a fully fit contingent to choose from.
That includes lock Luke Romano, who has taken 10 weeks to overcome a groin injury, and wing Julian Savea, who missed the Paris Test due to illness.
Hansen wouldn’t be drawn on selection, including at five-eighth, where world point scoring record-holder Dan Carter is set to become the fourth member of the squad to play 100 Tests.
England have won nine of their 10 Tests since the boilover against New Zealand last December.
New Zealand coaching staff have been impressed by England’s two wins this month at Twickenham, over Australia and Argentina, setting up a classic encounter.
“They’ve clearly got a lot of confidence and believe in themselves,” Hansen said.
“On the day (last year), they just played a game that we couldn’t compete with. That’s our challenge this week, to see if we can be good enough to get up to that level.”