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Jamie George has cautioned that Steve Borthwick's side should steer clear of being intimidated by New Zealand's formidable reputation if they aim to secure their maiden home victory over the Kiwis in over a decade this weekend.

Squad Boost Before Pivotal Fixture

England's head coach got a timely boost with the versatile back recovering from injury and available for selection since suffering an injury on British & Irish Lions tour, while the full-back and the wing featured in the expanded squad revealed on Sunday night.

Current Form Contrasts with Past Struggles

England will welcome New Zealand after extending their unbeaten run to nine games with a decisive 38-18 win over Fiji, again pulling away in the final quarter. Their current form stands in stark contrast from 12 months back, when England suffered six defeats in seven matches, each by fine margins. A trio of these losses came against the Kiwis—two on the overseas tour and a tight loss at Twickenham after the fly-half missed late goal attempts.

The All Blacks just defeated the Scots on Saturday to maintain aspirations of a home nations grand slam alive, and though South Africa cemented their top ranking, the captain has hailed New Zealand as “arguably the best side in the world.”

Of the last 11 meetings, England's sole win over New Zealand came in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, and the visitors remain unbeaten in the recent fixtures at Twickenham.

George's Insight on Facing the All Blacks

“What a lot of teams do is sit back in admiration of New Zealand with their history and all their incredible talent,” said former captain George. “It’s easy to do that. I’ve probably done it before. We’ve also got to be aware we’ll be playing at Allianz Stadium. It’s an honour to be competing at home. We are going to do all we can to win that game.

“You have to be at your peak. The All Blacks are without doubt the best side in the world at the minute. They’re an unbelievably fantastic team and they appear to raise a level when they visit this stadium. Our focus for us to do is identify where we could have been better in the first half last time. Additionally, develop a clear gameplan which can put them under as much stress as we are able to. By doing so, we’ll give ourselves a opportunity.

“We faced a lot of criticism last year for not coming out on the winning end of tight games and not figuring out how to win. Currently, we’re doing the exact opposite. By no means have we cracked it. But we’ve placed a strong focus on the final phases of games and closing games out. Notching multiple tries in the final segment of that game is a mark of a quality team.”

Borthwick's Outlook and Team Adjustments

Borthwick is likely to make a several adjustments to his side, with captain the lock, the flanker, and Ford all expected to return to the first XV. Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso each took knocks against the Islanders but both have been selected in the squad preparing to take on New Zealand.

“We aim to challenge ourselves against the best teams and [New Zealand] are among best teams,” said the head coach. “We’re a young side, we’re developing, I think we’re improving quickly and we’re keen to learn. So I’m sure next week’s will be a valuable test for us.”

The Star's Take on Progress

The number eight, in addition, believes that the team's present ability to break away in the dying minutes of games is largely due to their three narrow defeats by New Zealand the previous year. “It leaves you seasoned, you feel like you’ve been through battles, you’ve got the experience to learn from those setbacks, and they stung at the time,” said Earl, who was named player of the game against Fiji. “But I question to a man in the dressing room, if we’d alter our journey now, with the success that we’re now enjoying? I’d be interested to know because I think they’re very, very valuable lessons.”