Dallaglio's army must fight

The vultures are circling, ready to pick at the bones of England's once mighty team as they prepare to face another onslaught from New Zealand in Auckland tomorrow.

England have earned nothing-on this tour to date - and lost a great deal - which makes the task facing captain Lawrence Dallaglio and Co one of the toughest in recent English rugby history. In these circumstances, arriving in search of salvation at the gates of Eden Park, spiritual home of the All Blacks, seems a desperate act.

Patently England have only one option: to come out fighting. The ignominy of having fallen so far so quickly has hurt Dallaglio, who has spent all week demanding his players remember the fundamentals that secured the World Cup in Sydney.

His message has been backed up by the New Zealand rugby public, who are basking in the afterglow of the 36-3 First Test win in Dunedin. As centre Mike Tindall admitted: "There's nothing worse than walking around town this week and seeing fans in All Black jerseys looking smug - as they should do - and not being able to hold your head high. The good thing is that we have a chance to put it right."

Unfortunately, New Zealanders want more of the same and that is why they see England's role as merely to provide further evidence of a shift in world rugby power from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere.

New Zealand now hold the official No1 ranking in world rugby and those bragging rights will be further enhanced by another win tomorrow.

It is against this backdrop that Dallaglio leads his England team into battle knowing that another debilitating defeat will make their next game - the World Cup final rematch with Australia in Brisbane - a nightmare.

Lote Tuqiri, the Wallaby wing, pronounced England's display in Dunedin as "rubbish" and worse will follow if Dallaglio's men turn up next week having lost four of their last five Tests.

Having beaten the All Blacks and Wallabies in their own backyards 12 months ago and then collected the World Cup last November, this tour was always going to be about revenge.

The All Blacks used that raw emotion to inflict a psychologically damaging defeat last weekend and forced Clive Woodward to make six changes.

The head coach admitted to putting too much faith in players who had performed heroics months ago rather than proved their match fitness weeks ago.

As a result, flanker Joe Worsley, scrum-half Andy Gomarsall, wing Tom Voyce, lock Steve Borthwick, hooker Mark Regan and centre Stuart Abbott are no longer surplus to his requirements.

By changing a third of the team, Woodward is attempting to add fresh legs and minds to the equation and while it offers England some hope, the main focus for his attention has been the nine survivors from Dunedin.

Men like Ben Cohen, Josh Lewsey, Mike Tindall, Trevor Woodman and Richard Hill are running on empty but have to find something extra tomorrow.

Dallaglio has spent all week laying it on the line by demanding to know from each England player what it means to pull on the white jersey. It may appear a pointless exercise given the assumption that anyone lucky enough to be selected for their country would die for the cause. However, on the evidence of Dunedin, too many were happy to make up the numbers. And to make matters worse, reports of unhappiness within the England camp have filtered out this week, suggesting the problems run deep.

The First Test was all about holding onto what England had achieved rather than striving to hit new targets and that's why they failed. It was much easier for New Zealand whose common cause was mind-numbingly simple: knock over the world champions and regain lost pride.

They achieved that with something to spare and even the loss of wonder wing Doug Howlett has not deflected the All Blacks from their next target - a 2-0 series triumph over England.

All Black coach Graham Henry has been quick to warn about the danger of an England backlash.

But this country has been rejoicing in the rediscovery of its national identity as embodied by the Men in Black. They are proud of an All Black pack that punched its weight - and anything else within range - and provided possession for their marvellous backs to exploit.

For England, regaining lost glory is a fiendishly difficult assignment. But they are not facing a hopeless cause and that's Dallaglio's message. We will discover tomorrow if anyone has been listening.

New Zealand v England, Auckland, tomorrow, 8.35am (live on Sky Sports 1)

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