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Ex-England flyhalf says Crusaders downfall means series win over the All Blacks a 'realistic chance'
By Ben Smith
Former England flyhalf Freddie Burns believes that a 2-0 series win over the All Blacks by England is a ‘realistic chance’ as New Zealand rugby goes through a ‘transition period’.
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The Premiership-winning No 10, who completed a stint in New Zealand with the Highlanders just last year, spoke with Jim Hamilton on The Big Jim Show ahead of the final between the Northampton Saints and his old club Bath.
When asked if England could go down and do something against the All Blacks, Burns was optimistic after a stellar season from Northampton who are expected to have a number of starters in the England XV.
“Yeah I think so, I think the most important thing is the combinations you are starting to see,” Freddie Burns told The Big Jim Show.
“That England backline will probably load up on a lot of Saints players, so there is already that cohesion.
“We’ve already spoke about it, the debate around who plays at No 10. I’d go Marcus [Smith], give him a run at it.
“But it wouldn’t surprise me with the combinations with Mitchell and Fin Smith whether they stick to that.”
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England first travel to Japan to face former coach Eddie Jones and the Brave Blossoms before travelling further south to the cold of Dunedin to face the All Blacks for the first visit since 2014.
The first Test against England will be new coach Scott Robertson’s first game in charge of the men in black. But despite the All Blacks landing the super coach, Burns believed the key player losses suffered opens the door for a historic England tour.
From the 23 that played in the Rugby World Cup final last November , the All Blacks have lost Aaron Smith, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock to retirement, Shannon Frizell and Richie Mo’unga to Japanese rugby, while Will Jordan is out with injury along with others like Sam Cane who has been in Japan.
“That Japanese game is going to be tough in the heat, they get through that they’re down in Dunedin for the first Test,” Burns said.
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“New Zealand rugby is going through a bit of a transition at the minute. The Crusaders aren’t the force that they used to be, aren’t quite that same force.
“I think England have a realistic chance to go down there and upset a few people and come away with at least a series draw, if not a series win.”
Expanding on his logic, Burns believed that the downfall of the Crusaders this year in Super Rugby would influence the All Blacks’ performances.
For so long the Crusaders have provided the bulk of the All Blacks players, and after a catastrophic 4-10 season, they won’t be the backbone of the side this year.
In the same way that a strong Leinster provides a strong Ireland side, the Crusaders are the bloodline for the All Blacks.
“It’s more the change of guard. I know Beauden Barrett went back to the Blues after the Japanese season, I’m not sure whether he can play,” Burns said.
“It’s that transition period, Mo’unga’s gone abroad, they’ve lost that combination and the Crusaders for so long were stacked with the All Blacks.
“Similar to Leinster with Ireland, and that’s no longer there anymore.
“I don’t think New Zealand are going to be the same force. Are they going to be a roll over? Of course not. It’s going to be a hard Test series.
“But I think it’s England’s best chance to get something done.”
England’s last victory over the All Blacks was the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final in Japan, with only one Test played since then which ended with a 25-all draw at Twickenham in 2022.
England have won just twice in 15 Tests on New Zealand soil, with the last coming in 2003 with Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson plotting a 15-13 victory in Wellington.
The other English victory was in 1973 at Eden Park where the visitors prevailed by 16-10.
Same old story with England…..think they can but deep inside they know it will not happen
Quite clearly haven't seen the hurricanes , chiefs and blues play . Although crusaders by their ridiculous high standards have been shite , they were getting good . Their pack was always dominating and with players coming back they almost made the playoffs. However to say England will or could win 2-0 is just ridiculous , considering how shite England were during the nations. NZ will batter England that is no question about it .
That’s exactly it David, was just a small factor he hoped might make a difference in their favour but then had to back down on it because when Big Jim pressed him he obviously didn’t have any real opinion, any for of calculated reason because he probably didn’t follow it.
That is probably the biggest takeway from the conversation. He is now involved in a area big on SR and using it’s best talent, was involved in SR himself, has plenty of time on his hands, is in the perfect timezone for it, and doesn’t even realize it has zero, absolutely zero (doesn’t effect anyone in the WCF team), effect on the formation of who England are going to come up against.
The new SR committee need to fix that as their first problem. Why does SR not have enough international reach or penetration to be on his radar?
History show that when Auckland ruby is strong and dominating, All Black’s are unbelievable! Plus we now have Razor! 1😁🤘
The forward pack will still have a core of Crusader forwards in the tight five as in the past:
Codie Taylor
Fletcher Newell
Tamatai Williams
Scott Barrett
Quentin Strange
Ethan Blackadder, Sevu Reese, and by Rugby Championships, Will Jordan are all sure fire All Black selections.
Possibly add Cullen Grace at blindside and Noah Hotham
It’s an exciting prospect. England will arrive with a strong pack, who will be more experienced than NZ’s by some distance. They will also have more continuity in game plans and strategy than NZ. We know they will bring the best impersonation of SA’s blitz defence which was looking very effective by the end of the 6N. Robertson will have a young and inexperienced pack, and a number of players who will not be familiar playing together. I think we know what England will do, and where they wull attack us. A very difficult challenge for Razor’s first tests for sure.
Hmm, I’m not so sure thats accurate. Nice contemplation though.
England are going through far more change than NZ are (half WC team gone), you really think they have got up to speed that quick? Razor wont change much in this first squad I don’t think so will be largely unchanged. Well, TJ and Dmac are old hands I should say. Double pivot, along with perhaps Jordan at the back will restructure the attack a bit. If you want to look at it that way.
I guess when say experience, you are talking about their domestic experience? The new players in England are all fairly well into their careers and hitting their peak now? That’s the thing you have to watch for as apposed to a side like NZ right, because theres so many players you find a lot more players rotate through at the peak. Where NZ has to pick and stick, and hope for generational quality to make them good when young.
Oh, I forgot Frizzel. That will probably be the one spot of an key area of change, and of course, we can’t afford for anymore of our locks to go down (or DMac😬touch wood).
It’s probably the best chance England has to beat them, But!!!!! AB’s in their backyard is not to be taken lightly. Keep humble, focus on the job at hand……..and please this over-the-top celebration for marginal gains is cringe-worthy. Save it for moments that matter, like winning a trophy or beating a strong teams
NH pundits love punditing punditry nonsense.
I don’t think the Crusaders have ever been an accurate-ish onfield barometer for ABs performances. We never won SR for 8 seasons under Blackadder & yet the ABs still managed b2b RWC wins over this time. Conversely, the remarkable Razor Crusaders era didn’t translate into global success for the ABs.
A key connection though is that Razor has 4 Crusaders coaches in his ABs coaching team; Jase Ryan, Scott Hansen. Tamati Ellison, & Rangi MacDonald. Unproven as a team at this level, of course, but a point worth mentioning given the premise of this article.
Exciting times ahead, not long now.
Yes if anything Crusaders dominance is a counter signal. The ABs were probably at their best in between the Deans and Robertson Crusaders dynasties when other NZ teams were competitive.
No, he doesn’t. You can listen to the aftermatch here on one of RPs videos. Its just a bunch of leading questions from Big Jim, nothing to do with Burns at all.
Burns predictions is certainly not outlandish, theyr a quiet reminder NH has come along way. I believe the English tour here will be more entertaining than the irish sa clashes. Sure the saders missed out by the skin of their teeth. If they had the fortunate luck of 1 more pool game then without doubt they’d be in the playoffs. However the other franchises have more than made up with the exciting mix of talent up for selection, let’s not forget our new rock star coach razor.
I hope for the AB’s sake your Rock start coach can perform on International level (not saying he cant)
Did the Crusaders beat Bristol? Theres no chance England are anywhere near good enough going by that result.
Kiwis should be glad Underhill isn’t coming. He was a beast in final at w/d.
Rugby is called a team sport for a reason, it takes 23 players to win a game. For example, Sam Cane was enormous for the AB’s in the quarter-finals against Ireland But ended up losing in the World Cup final. One player doesn’t make a team 23 cohesive players do
Or Ford. If they knew what they’re doing he could have won them a WC.
Underhill is in the squad
Why would we be worried?
Yes he’s a good player
Barbeary is a bad omission and Willis is ineligible
This is definitely England’s best chance of getting an extremely rare series victory in NZ with all their stalwarts now gone & a coupla others not available for whatever reason.
With all that said…..15mins into the 1st test and 2 bounces of the ball go NZs way (which it usually tends to down there😁) and England are down 17-0 with the crowd going crazy….poof….series gone
I heard some crazy stat that England have only one twice in NZ.
England has lost all their stalwarts as well, hope fans can recognize the players on the pitch. Makes it all that much more exciting.
Well the ABs were creaming England two years ago and managed to grasp a draw in the last 10 mins
Atrocious
Pointless talk unless England select their best. France have already decided to rest their best. NH arrogance; if the ABs toured with their B team the NH would be outraged.
English Final was last week. France is getting into their finals next week I think. Big difference.
Willis is missing but who else?
It’s good that he and hopefully many of the England fans don’t have any idea of what has happened in SR this year
Not a fan but the Crusaders are failing for one main reason - their coach
However key players who have recently returned have made a massive difference and they nearly made it
Newell, Williams as an ABs propping bench, Taylor and Blackadder finally fit
These guys are in amazing form
Then you add in the best from the other mainly three teams and watch out
Lock is a major issue we know
I suspect he's referring to the loss of Sam Whitelock, Richie Mo’unga and Leicester Faina’anuku. The loss to Reds at home, and Brumbies justify an opinion the team no longer drives the AB bus.
the worse Crusaders do without Robertson, the more evidence there is that he is the right man for the AB job!
but the transition period will be tricky. NZ will go in as favourites of course, but the series should be close.
England has never beaten NZ in a series…. Never. And it wont change this year
Neither had Ireland un til 2022. A couple of years ago NZ had never lost to Argentina, now they have lost to them twice.
The gap not just between NH and SH but between tier 1 and tier 2 has narrowed. Ireland and Argentina beating the All Blacks, Fiji beating England, Portugal beating Fiji, Japan beating SA... The rugby landscape has changed so much in the last decade, I don't think historic statistics hold too much water… That said, it's going to be very hard to win any matches in NZ, even if there is more optimism than in previous years. What Freddie Burns has said sounds about right though, it's not unrealistic to say on current form England could win it but no bookies are going to be making them favourites. It's going to be bloody either way.
you’re probably right that NZ will win, but it’ll be closer than you might expect!