Scott Barrett: All Blacks still harbour England 'scars' from 2019 World Cup amid aims to silence Twickenham

England have not beaten the All Blacks at Twickenham since December 1, 2012 but in the 13 years that have followed they won the most important meeting of all between the sides.

On October 26, 2019 in Yokohama, England met Rugby World Cup favourites New Zealand in the semi-finals of the tournament.

What followed was arguably the greatest England performance of all time – a stunning 19-7 victory that crushed the All Blacks’ dreams of a World Cup three-peat.

Since 2012, New Zealand have visited Twickenham five times, winning four (2013, 2014, 2018, 2024) and drawing one (2022). They’ve also beaten England a further five times on Kiwi soil.

Yet, 2019 still stands out for All Blacks past and present, with captain Scott Barrett bringing it up unprompted on Friday ahead of Saturday’s latest meeting.

“If our history’s anything to go by, it’s going be a heck of a Test match and we’ve certainly got some scars from the English going back to the 2019 World Cup. We don’t want to go there again,” Barrett said.

“Yeah [2019 still lives in the mind]. Every All Black wants to win a World Cup and to have that sort of dream or the rug pulled out from underneath you by England, certainly leaves a scar.

“For us, it’s about taking the strength that we’ve built upon this season, playing with confidence and putting a performance in on Saturday night that we’re proud of.

“It’s 80-odd thousand, it’s always a challenge from the first minute, always physical, and it’s always a great contest.

“Look back in the past, the few games we’ve had against England, it’s been within a one-score game.”

Asked whether he was surprised at the fact England – who are looking to win a 10th Test in succession this weekend – were bookies favourites for Saturday’s contest, Barrett was diplomatic in his response.

“I’m not surprised, to be honest,” he said.

“They’ve gathered some momentum at home, they’ve got a youthful group with some experienced heads in amongst it in key positions. I guess they’re a team that’s confident and certainly backing themselves.

“Probably going off last week, we scored a couple of quick tries and then for a lot of that game, we were actually in an arm wrestle and I think Scotland probably won a lot of those arm wrestles.

“They are areas that England would have highlighted and certainly seen as opportunities. A week’s a short time and also a long time in Test match rugby, and we’re looking forward to running out Saturday and doing our country proud.”

‘We want to quieten Twickenham crowd and use it as fuel’

On the prospect of facing England with a packed-out and vocal Twickenham support behind them, Barrett conceded the crowd will be a factor in the contest, but one they are seeking to control.

“Yeah [keeping the crowd quiet], that’s a big part of it. We’ve talked about noise.

“Noise ultimately is a distraction, and you can get frustrated by it, but we’re using that as a fuel in those moments, stepping up to that.

“What’s required right there in the end is embracing it, smiling at it. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the Test Arena.

“You know, there’s a lot of Kiwis over here but there’s a few more English that would be singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot at the end of the game if we’re down.

“We can use that as fuel to make the 80 minutes that goes before that a result we can be proud of and hang our hat on.

“England have probably doubled down on their DNA, the aerial game and being disruptive. We’re certainly prepared for that and we’re excited about Saturday.”

England vs New Zealand: The teams

England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Fin Baxter, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith.

New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard; 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Fletcher Newell, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 5 Fabian Holland, 6 Simon Parker, 7 Ardie Savea, 8 Peter Lakai,

Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie.