England must beat All Blacks to reach next level, why my old mate Eddie Jones still influences this side and recalling 'Manu's game' - Care column

If England can beat The All Blacks, it would be a brilliant win, I think just for the mentality of that group. Almost like when you reach the top level in a computer game, you unlock the big boss. This is one of the big bosses that England have to beat to take them to the next level. And it's got quite a lot of significance, with 10 wins in a row on the line. It would be the first time beating New Zealand since 2019, but the first time in a game away from a World Cup since 2012 - that's a long time.

As a player, I only beat New Zealand once, and that was that 2012 game. Obviously my career is different to a lot of people's, but as an England player, we don't have much success against New Zealand, definitely in the last 15 years or so. So this is big, to get this monkey off the back. But also, I think, it would probably show the lads that everything they're doing is setting them on the right trajectory.

This New Zealand is a very good team. But we've seen brilliant New Zealand teams before, and I faced brilliant New Zealand teams when I was playing, when if you got within 20 points, it was a good result. And it was, back then. They had Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and all these greats of the game - to get within 20 points, you'd be like, 'Do you know what? We've done quite well there.' So that's where the gap has definitely changed. One, with England getting so much better, but also New Zealand have lost a lot of that golden generation of players that were just brilliant, and took them to multiple World Cup wins.

So I think the time is now for England. The time is Saturday for England to take the next step, beat New Zealand and take that scalp, and I think hopefully that will then propel them on to finish this series well, but then also to the Six Nations and beyond, to be really confident that they can beat the best in the world.

My prediction is 26-22 to England.

It was a mad old week preparing to play against New Zealand at home back in 2012.

You've always got that hope that maybe today could be the day, but then I had so many of those times where come the end of the game, you're like, 'How have we lost that?' Or you've been blown away, but then that day - it was Manu Tuilagi's game. He was incredible, almost undefendable.

I remember, I was sat on the bench. Just hearing the stadium that day was incredible, because there's just something different in the air when New Zealand come to town. They bring this aura with them.

So when Manu started running through players, we thought it was going to be a good day, and then he did it a couple of times, we were like, 'right, okay', and then he kept doing it, he kept doing it, he kept doing it, and that just fed the momentum of all the players, all the crowd. I think you always have belief that you can go and win a game against New Zealand, but at times it's a hope, rather than a real belief. That was the first time we've been on the pitch and we've gone, 'We're actually going to win this.' It was an incredible feeling, because the likes of McCaw, Carter, Nonu and Smith were playing, so it wasn't like we played against them when they had a rested team; it was their full-strength team. It did turn out, afterwards, they came out to say that there'd been a sickness bug through the camp, and they'd all been really ill all week. But we'll forget about that.

That feeling of finally beating New Zealand was an incredible one, because it's so hard to do. Many, many players will go through their careers and never win a single game against them. In 101 games, I only won one against New Zealand, so it just shows how hard it is to beat them.

The other lads around my age group would have done it twice, probably, some of them. Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, Joe Marler, and a couple of others who were involved in that 2019 World Cup semi-final. But that just shows, again, Ben Youngs the most capped England men's player of all time, has only beaten New Zealand twice. So it's a tough old feat, it's a big deal, and I think what it could do for this team could be huge.

Throughout my career, we tried loads of different responses to the haka, players saying, 'Right, let's go up to them, let's get right in their faces, let's take on the challenge and not back down', and then you've got others that are just like, 'Right, let's just watch it, nod our head, walk on and get on with it.'

I think you can make of it whatever you want to make of it. If you, as a team, feel like the best way to get the best out of your team is to go up there and face or stare them down, really get in their faces, and that's what's going to get you going, then great. If it's just to respect and watch and leave, fine.

I go back to my record against the All Blacks - we tried a lot of things, and none of them really worked, because we kept losing! I think it's an amazing thing still in world rugby. I love watching it. I think it's one of the coolest things you can experience as a player, to stand and stare it down and watch it, and respect their culture, their traditions, accept the challenge. And then you go on and play. And if anything, it gets you going as much as it does them, I think, sometimes, because you don't get your opportunity to go back at them, you don't see the English lads Morris dancing back to them or anything. You just stand there, you watch it, you appreciate it, you accept it, and then the challenge is laid down, and you've got to go and deliver. I think that also adds to the All Blacks' mystique and aura. Facing the haka is something you want to experience, and the lads will be loving it this weekend.

I think the notion of the 'Bomb Squad' goes back to my old mate Eddie Jones. Eddie was probably the first one that pioneered the importance of the finishers. Obviously, substitutes have always been important, but Eddie really placed a huge emphasis on the finishers, and it being an 80-minute shirt. He would say to myself and Ben Youngs, 'This is an 80-minute performance in that shirt, so I need 50 of your best Ben and 30 of your best Danny', and he would make you feel, as the substitutes, just as important as the starters.

Steve Borthwick has been in those environments with Eddie, it's something now that I think every coach looks at, and probably Rassie Erasmus is the one at the moment that's almost changed the game with that, in terms of the 'Bomb Squad' coming on, and the momentum that can give.

Steve's stacked his bench again for Saturday, and then All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has put Wallace Sititi on the bench, maybe, to counteract that, and Damian McKenzie, and they've got their front row replacements who are frighteningly good and big, powerful. So I think watch out for the start of the game, but also watch out for 50-60 minutes into it when both teams unload their benches.

I like coaches being innovative and seeing trends in the game, and I think Steve's a very smart bloke, he knows what he's doing, and I can't wait to see the impact that those boys have this weekend.

It's going to be an incredible Ashes series. It's going to be a tough old task for the English boys, but I love their energy, I love what that team's all about.

In terms of the 'Bazball' tactics with Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, I love their positive attitude that they're going to go down there and swing the bat, and get stuck into them, and try and ruffle a few feathers. I really like that mentality that they're going in with.

Look at our squad, it's absolutely stacked. It's got some unbelievable players and experience. And Joe Root, the Yorkshire boy, still showing he's the best batter in the world. Hopefully he can go down there and put a good few runs on the board and get things going.

I'm buzzing for that, because it's what you grow up with, isn't it? The Ashes is one of the things you grow up with and then you get into it and you hear about it, and then you just love it. Hopefully, the boys go down there and get the job done.

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