George Ford urges England to end wait against All Blacks

Fly-half George Ford has urged England to play with total intensity as they face the All Blacks in the autumn internationals clash at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

England have claimed only eight victories in 46 Tests against New Zealand, with the last home win coming at Twickenham in December 2012.

England enter the clash at Twickenham on the back of a nine-match winning streak and with marginal favourite status.

Ford insisted his side must “go at them in every area of the game” to break a long-standing drought.

“It’s a long time ago, isn’t it? It makes me feel old!” said Ford.

“Let’s change that. There’s only been eight ever wins. It’s like, come on, let’s have a ninth now. One hundred per cent.

“Jamie George mentioned something to the team this week – the last time England beat New Zealand at Twickenham was 2012. And people still go on about 2012. Manu Tuilagi and all those…

“Jamie then flipped it and said this is the opportunity we have in front of us. Why can’t we – 2025 – be the next team that they talk about? It’s definitely part of my motivation.”

England and the All Blacks met three times last year, with New Zealand winning all three encounters but only by a combined margin of 10 points.

Ford said those narrow results underline how fine the margins will be again and stressed that England must manage to seize on key moments.

“We’ve Got to Go at Them. You’ve got to go at a team like this in every area of the game,” Ford said.

“When we’ve got the ball, we’ve got to go at them. And when they’ve got the ball, we’ve got to go at them. The kicking game, the set-piece — we’ve got to go at them.”