England Rugby Players Explain what it takes to Earn the Shirt

With just four days to go until England’s first match against the All Blacks since last year’s epic victory, Lucozade Sport caught up with Mako Vunipola, Chris Ashton and Joel Tomkins to find out what it takes to earn the England shirt and what winning a place in the national squad means to them…

It is almost a year on since that record-breaking momentous day at Twickenham, where an unexpected England team thrashed the World Champion All Blacks by 38 points to 21 at the home of rugby.

The loss was New Zealand’s only negative result of the entire year.

On that day England pulled off one of the great victories in their history as they destroyed the world champions to the delight of a rejoicing Twickenham crowd.

The All Blacks had been unbeaten in 20 matches but were completely outplayed as second-half tries from Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi snuffed out a brief comeback.

Three penalties and a drop-goal from Owen Farrell gave England a 15-0 lead after 42 minutes, only for tries from Julian Savea and Kieran Read to make it 15-14.

But there was no denying a hugely impressive England, who secured their first win over the All Blacks in nine years - only their seventh in history.

Stuart Lancaster's men were superior in every department; their scrum excellent, their breakdown immense and their defence relentless.

A late try from Savea was barely a consolation for the visitors, the final margin of 17 points a new record for the men in white.

Almost one year on, and the All Blacks find themselves in the same position, undefeated so far in 2013, with 12 wins from 12 attempts – can lightning strike twice?

England are undefeated at home so far this year, and have enjoyed a perfect start to the QBE Autumn internationals with an important win over Australia and a slightly less convincing victory over Argentina this Saturday just gone.

The All Blacks played France this weekend in Paris in a repeat fixture of the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.

New Zealand were 26-19 victors; however, New Zealand were made to work very hard in Paris, as the sides were locked nine-all at the break. In fact, the home side could have easily been ahead, if it hadn’t been for two penalty misses from Morgan Parra.

New Zealand raised the tempo in the second-half and made scoring two excellent tries - via Charlie Piutau and Kieran Read - look easy.

France replied through a top-quality score of their own from full-back Brice Dulin and finished the game camped on the New Zealand line.

In the end, the surface at the Stade de France let the home team down as it disintegrated, preventing the dominant French scrum from pushing on for a draw-saving try that certainly looked on.

The All Blacks will now have their sights firmly set on England as they look for revenge after last year’s shock defeat.

It’s sure to be a great end to the 2013 International rugby calendar.

What does it mean to play for England from the men who do?

What does it mean to wear the shirt?