It's high time the Borthwick regime delivers on promise

England boss needs a statement win and the All Blacks are up first

After a second narrow defeat in a row to New Zealand this summer, England captain Jamie George gathered his crestfallen team-mates in the middle of the Eden Park pitch.

"Listen, I know you're going to be heartbroken at that," he said. "I know I am. I'm gutted. We are so close to doing something special. So enjoy your break, get away, have a good time. We get back together in November and we play these guys again first up. Let's make sure we have that in the back of our minds all summer."

It has been a turbulent time for England since then, as head coach Steve Borthwick has had to cope with upheaval in his backroom staff. In the space of a few days in August, strength and conditioning coach Aled Walters left to join Ireland and defence coach Felix Jones resigned after just seven months in the role.

Borthwick has defended the coaching environment, insisting he had a number of "high-quality CVs" to sift through as he found replacements for Jones and Walters. The end result is that Joe El-Abd has joined as the new defence coach and Dan Tobin has arrived as a strength and conditioning coach.