2024 Autumn Nations: England vs. New Zealand Preview

All eyes will be on Steve Borthwick’s England going toe to toe with New Zealand on Saturday afternoon in this highly anticipated Autumn Nations Series contest.

The much anticipated Autumn Nations Series is set to make its return for 2024, with games taking place across Europe from Saturday 2nd November to Saturday 30th November 2024. These matches will include some of the best teams in the world, with the majority of the participants currently sitting within the top ten of the World Rankings.

Action will be getting underway with the titanic contest between Steve Borthwick’s England and Scott Robertson’s New Zealand at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on 2nd November, with this game kicking off at 15:10 that afternoon.

As of the time of writing, England occupies 5th spot in the world rankings with 85.40 points whilst their opponents are two places higher, with the All Blacks sitting in 3rd place with 88.70 points to their name at the moment. The only nations above them are South Africa (91.77 Points) and Ireland (92.12). The only national team separating England from New Zealand is France in 4th place (86.96 Points).

Squads

Here are the confirmed squads that have been named by Steve Borthwick and Scott Roberson respectively for the 2024 Autumn Nations Series.

England:

Forwards: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby) & Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby).

Backs: Elliot Daly (Saracens), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers) & Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).

New Zealand:

Forwards: Asafo Aumua (Hurricanes), Codie Taylor (Crusaders), George Bell (Crusaders), Ethan De Groot (Highlanders), Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes), Fletcher Newell (Crusaders), Pasilio Tosi (Bay Of Plenty), Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Blues), Tamaiti Williams (Canterbury), Scott Barrett (Crusaders), Tupou Vaa’I (Taranaki Bulls), Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues), Sam Darry (Blues), Ethan Blackadder (Crusaders), Sam Cane (Bay Of Plenty), Samipeni Finau (Chiefs), Luke Jacobson (Chiefs), Dalton Papali’I (Blues), Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika) & Wallace Sititi (Chiefs).

Backs: TJ Perenara, Cortez Ratima (Chiefs), Cam Roigard (Hurricanes), Beauden Barrett (Toyota Verblitz), Damian McKenzie (Waikato), Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes), David Havili (Crusaders), Rieko Ioane (Blues), Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs), Billy Proctor (Hurricanes), Caleb Clarke (Blues), Will Jordan (Crusaders), Ruben Love (Hurricanes), Stephen Perofeta (Blues), Sevu Reece (Crusaders), Mark Tele’a (Blues).

England Team News

Here is the line-up that has been announced by England Head Coach Steve Borthwick for this crucial Autumn Nations Series Contest on the afternoon of Saturday 2^nd November 2024. It sees Bath Rugby’s Ben Spencer make his first start for England.

England: 15 George Furbank (11 Caps – Northampton Saints), 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (6 Caps – Exeter Chiefs), 13 Henry Slade (65 Caps – Exeter Chiefs), 12 Ollie Lawrence (27 Caps – Bath Rugby), 11 Tommy Freeman (11 Caps – Northampton Saints), 10 Marcus Smith (35 Caps – Harlequins), 9 Ben Spencer (6 Caps – Bath Rugby), 1 Ellis Genge (62 Caps – Bristol Bears, Vice Captain), 2 Jamie George (93 Caps – Saracens, Captain), 3 Will Stuart (41 Caps – Bath Rugby), 4 Maro Itoje (84 Caps – Saracens, Vice Captain), 5 George Martin (15 Caps – Leicester Tigers), 6 Chandler Cunningham-Smith (7 Caps – Harlequins), 7 Tom Curry (53 Caps – Sale Sharks) & 8 Ben Earl (33 Caps – Saracens, Vice Captain).

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan (14 Caps – Saracens), 17 Fin Baxter (2 Caps, Harlequins), 18 Dan Cole (115 Caps – Leicester Tigers), 19 Nick Isiekwe (11 Caps – Saracens), 20 Ben Curry (5 Caps – Sale Sharks), 21 Alex Dombrandt (17 Caps – Harlequins), 22 Harry Randall (7 Caps – Bristol Bears) & 23 George Ford (96 Caps – Sale Sharks, Vice Captain).

Head to Head

The last time that England and New Zealand went face to face in a competitive fixture was back on 13th July 2024. It was a game that the All Blacks were able to win 24 – 17 after coming back from a half time deficit of 14 – 13 at Eden Park.

England’s most recent competitive victory against New Zealand came in the Semi-Final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan back on 26th October 2019. It was a historic 19 – 7 win against the All Blacks that saw England reach their first World Cup Final in 13 years.

There was a try for Manu Tuilagi, a conversion for Owen Farrell, and George Ford was able to score no less than four penalties on the day. Below, you can take a look at the highlights of this memorable game.

England’s biggest victory against New Zealand took place in the Autumn Nations Series back in 2012, with England beating their opponents 38 – 21. This was a margin of no less than 17.

Unfortunately for England, the current head to head record is in favour of the All Blacks, with New Zealand having 35 wins to England’s 8 so far. Steve Borthwick’s side will be looking to add to that wins column on Saturday afternoon. There have also been 2 draws between them.

Excitement and anticipation are building rapidly ahead of this game between England and New Zealand at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham at 15:10 on Saturday 2nd November to kick off the 2024 Autumn Nations Series in some style.

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