Rugby union has frequently been compared to a religion in New Zealand that permeates the entire population of five million, from the old lady pontificating on who the All Blacks’ third-choice scrum-half should be to the taxi driver giving the visiting players the inquisition on their line-out lifting strategy.
The battle of the two No 8s will be key as England seek only a third win over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil
Jack Rowell, who has died aged 87, was one of the most successful rugby union coaches of the second half of the last century; first at Bath, where he led the club to five league titles and eight cup final triumphs between 1978 and 1994, and then with England from 1994 to 1997, a period in which the side notched up 21 Test wins in 29 matches and delivered a Five Nations grand slam.