England back-row Tom Curry feels being passive against New Zealand is a recipe for disaster and has vowed that they will come with a big onslaught in Saturday’s Test at Twickenham.

The old foes are facing each other for the first time since their 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final in Yokohama, with England registering a deserved 19-7 win which has been one of the highlights of Eddie Jones’ reign as the Red Rose’s head coach.

Won’t respect the All Blacks too much

Despite delivering a mixed bag of results in 2022, the All Blacks are still favourites to beat England and Curry feels it will work in his opponents’ favour if he and his team-mates give them too much respect.

“We want to have that belief and aggression to go after New Zealand,” the Sale openside flanker said.

“When teams sit back against New Zealand and wait to see what they’re going to do, or what they might do, that’s when the All Blacks get their most joy and success.

“There are times when you can see teams sit back and let them do their thing. But we want to be going after them in how we attack and defend and not wait to see how they are, or dip our toe in. We want to go straight in.

“The All Blacks have been known for their individual skill and flair but what is probably at the forefront of their game now is their physicality.

“That can be at the set-piece or just in general, so you can’t be shocked by it. But we want to set the marker in terms of the physicality areas because we feel like we can make an impact there.”

Although England met the All Blacks’ haka challenge head-on in 2019 with a V-shaped formation, Curry downplayed the importance of his opponents’ pre-match ritual.

“It was how we played that set the tone in that game, you can do what you want before it,” he said.

Focused on the game

“The haka is a pretty amazing thing and something you’ve grown up watching. I’ve only faced it once and during that my head was just thinking about the game.

“It’s the same with the anthems. You have to keep focused and keep thinking about the game.”

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The article England: Tom Curry vows they will ‘go after’ the All Blacks at Twickenham appeared first on Planetrugby.com.