England will field three rookies when it faces New Zealand at Twickenham on Sunday, aiming to end a six-match losing streak against next year's Rugby World Cup favourite.
England's standing after winning the 2003 World Cup has fallen so far _ with several players retired and fly half Jonny Wilkinson injured continually _ that the All Blacks are resting key players before its matches against France on Nov. 11 and Nov. 18.
``There have been times over the last decade when English rugby was perceived as formidable, especially at home,'' England captain Martin Corry said. ``That's no longer the case. Ever since the World Cup win, England as a whole have been poor.''
British bookmaker William Hill rate New Zealand 1-7 favourite to beat England, with the home side at 4-1 to win.
Still, New Zealand captain Richie McCaw is wary.
``What more motivation can you get than to be written off by your own fans before you've even kicked off?'' McCaw said. ``So they will be really fired up. I know they've had problems on and off the field and have made some changes. But they're now going to be playing a game which we see as quite threatening.''
New Zealand's Dan Carter _ often rated the world's best fly half _ was named on the bench for the match at Twickenham, which will have a sellout 82,000 crowd. Nick Evans was instead named at No. 10, but could still miss the game with a hamstring problem.
There are eight changes to the All Blacks from their last match, a 21-20 loss to South Africa in Rustenburg in September, including the return of lock Keith Robinson for his first test in more than two years.
Reuben Thorne and Chris Masoe were named as forwards _ instead of usual starters Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo _ alongside McCaw.
England will give debuts to three backs: winger Paul Sackey, centre Anthony Allen and scrum half Shaun Perry. England coach Andy Robinson added another newcomer among his replacements, prop Stuart Turner.
England is without the injured Josh Lewsey, Olly Morgan, Mathew Tait, James Forrester, Olly Barkley, Matt Stevens and Steve Borthwick.
``We are the underdogs because we are playing undoubtedly the best team in the world,'' Corry said. ``New Zealand are where we want to be. As we proved in the past, playing the best is the only way to get there.''
New Zealand beat England 23-19 a year ago at Twickenham. England lock Danny Grewcock said his side had not forgotten its failure to take advantage when New Zealand lost two players to the sin bin.
``The big thing for us is that if we get these opportunities, then we have to make sure we get the points,'' Grewcock said.
Corry said England needed a more cohesive approach to avoid its worst run of results since 1971.
``People ask whether we need major or minor surgery to get back on track,'' Corry said. ``I feel we've been guilty of creating a lot of chances without the scoreboard reflecting the fact.''
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England
Iain Balshaw, Paul Sackey, Jamie Noon, Anthony Allen, Ben Cohen, Charlie Hodgson, Shaun Perry; Andrew Sheridan, George Chuter, Julian White, Danny Grewcock, Ben Kay, Martin Corry, Lewis Moody, Pat Sanderson.
New Zealand
Malili Muliaina, Rico Gear, Ma'a Nonu, Aaron Mauger, Joe Rokocoko, Nick Evans, Byron Kelleher; Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Carl Hayman, Chris Jack, Keith Robinson, Reuben Thorne, Richie McCaw, Chris Masoe.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
