Five must-sees as All Blacks take on England at Twickenham

Rugby reporter Andrew Saville breaks down the key things to watch for in what is arguably the biggest Test of this year's Northern Tour.

In the last 10 meetings the All Blacks and England have been split, on average by just a three-point margin. All the factors heading into Sunday morning point to another super tight game, decided by a couple of key moments.

Should this be the case, if the All Blacks get in front they must put the foot down, be more clinical and not fade in and out of the game. Rugby at the top level these days sees obvious momentum shifts. The All Blacks must take that momentum and try to bury England and not give them any hope or chances.

Keep the penalty count down and stop the yellow cards! Or else Maro Itoje and his forwards will lick their lips at getting a roll on.

The bench will also be vital again in trying to combat England’s six forwards-two backs split in their reserves. Overall they have five very mobile loose forwards in their 23. They’ll be hard to fend off at the breakdown.

Over the past two seasons under Scott Robertson this All Blacks team seems to become specialists at “whack-a-mole” type issues.

A slow start is often followed by a fast start; a fast finish can be followed by a slow end. One week a problem crops up, it generally gets fixed, only for a new issue to crop up in the next test match.

A consistent fix is the aerial game (that’s a given) and the intensity and clarity when re-entering the battle after halftime. In several tests under the new-ish regime the All Blacks have tended to come out of the sheds and either lose their way or struggle to fend off the fizz of their opponents.

That can’t happen at Twickenham.

Barrett senior is the key holder in this match. Yes, brother Scott and his forwards need to control set piece and the breakdown, where England dominated in the tests in NZ last year.

BUT Beauden’s kicking game and decision making will be vital.

Let’s not forget he saved the All Blacks’ bacon in July last year with cameos off the bench. That was after it looked like his days under the new management were numbered.

Since then, he’s been the All Blacks' starting 10 and crucial in every outing. Pinpoint kicking and timing of when to kick and not to kick will be vital.

Thirty-three-year-old Italian Andrea Piardi is the whistle blower on Sunday morning. A man not foreign to controversy.

He became the first Italian to take control of a men’s Six Nations match last year and is now about to referee his 15th test, on one of the biggest stages of all.

Piardi controlled the Wallabies-Lions test at the MCG back in July. He and his match officials made the crucial call at the end of the match, not awarding the Wallabies a penalty after flanker Carlo Tizzano appeared to be cleaned out in the neck area.

Piardi has refereed the All Blacks twice, both on Eden Park, both wins - last year against Argentina and this year versus the Wallabies. However in that game he whistled 25 penalties!

Piardi needs to back himself and not rely on a running commentary from the TMO, which has been prevalent in the autumn internationals so far. Once again, the TV match official appears to be having far too much say.

England first-five George Ford is sure to have a major influence on the game. He’ll bomb away if the ball gets past the halfback, who’s expected to box kick at will.

He also has a few attacking options at his disposal. If you’ve watched any of the English Premiership’s new season, it's clear many teams have thrown out the old Blighty handbook and are playing attacking football.

A number of the games have been high scoring, thanks in part to some good autumn weather but also a new attacking attitude from young backs. Although on Sunday morning, look for the English to revert to type quickly if play disintegrates too much.

Ford, who’s played more than 100 Test matches, also faces the nagging memories of Twickenham last year. Have you forgotten? At 24-22 down versus a 14-man All Blacks side, he missed a match winning penalty goal with two minutes to play. Then in the final play of the game, 30 metres out in front of the posts Ford sliced a plum dropped goal.

England haven’t beaten the All Blacks at Twickenham for 13 years. They’ve only managed two wins against New Zealand in London in this millennium. No pressure, George.