New Zealand v England LIVE rugby: Latest score and updates as All Blacks defend winning run at Eden Park

Scott, Jordie and Beauden Barrett are the first three All Blacks out of the tunnel, welcomed with a roar from an expectant capacity crowd.

Here we go then, lights flashing, flames flying as Eden Park rises to the occasion. Auckland’s fortress is full to the brim.

A Maori welcome for the players under pitch black, dry skies. For a New Zealand winter, conditions are just about perfect.

England are out first, striding up through the tunnel and out into the night.

Kick off is hurtling towards us in Auckland. It’s a first visit here in New Zealand colours for Scott Robertson, who led the Crusaders to Super Rugby Pacific triumph at Eden Park against the Blues in 2022. Given the limited preparation time, it felt like the All Blacks were focussed on the basics last week – scrum solid, kicking game good, defence on point. Might they be able to open up their attacking game slightly more today?

“We created a lot of chances early and didn’t finish them,” Robertson reflects on the first Test. “We could have taken a couple of different options, but the effort off the ball that was there, we want to see that again. England will probably chance their arm a little bit more, so we’ve got to stay on it.”

Scott Robertson’s decision at full-back is equally intriguing. Stephen Perofeta was solid enough in Dunedin but there surely would have been a temptation to get Beauden Barrett into the starting side given how well the veteran went off the pine last week. But perhaps Robertson sees real value in having such a steady head in reserve if required. Barrett’s ability to adapt to and manage a situation always made him so good in a bench role early in his career when backing up Dan Carter, and with rugby increasingly a 23-man game, perhaps it could be a one he masters again.

You wonder if England might have to tweak anything in both attack and defence with George Furbank ruled out. The full-back is a key figure on both sides of the ball: his lateral quickness is vital sweeping out of the back of their hard blitz defensive structure, while in attack his natural nose for space on the counter and distributing hands have helped spark a number of attacking adventures as England have developed over the last few months.

Freddie Steward cannot offer those same qualities, but the Leicester man has a pretty useful skillset of his own. His aerial dominance offers an intriguing tactical dimension that England could employ to test the hosts’ back three both as a territory winner and offensive option.

Maro Itoje was close to his destructive best in the first Test and England will need another big shift from their second row colossus. When he is firing, Itoje is the game’s most disruptive defender at the line-out, maul and breakdown and his spoiling contributions are critical if there is to be an upset. Now over the limit of 2,400 minutes game time imposed on England players for each season, he shows no sign of fatigue and is thriving in his role as captain once Jamie George leaves the field.

England’s alterations are also enforced: Joe Marler departed in the first half in Dunedin with a foot problem, forcing Fin Baxter to go 60 minutes on international debut in his Harlequins mentor’s stead. He steps in to the starting side; Bevan Rodd is brought on to the bench. Freddie Steward, meanwhile, is called in to take the 15 shirt with full-back George Furbank ruled out on Friday.

England XV: 1 Fin Baxter, 2 Jamie George (capt.), 3 Will Stuart; 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin; 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 Marcus Smith; 11 Tommy Freeman, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 13 Henry Slade, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; 15 Freddie Steward.

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry; 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme.

New Zealand are forced into a single change to their starting side after TJ Perenara’s knee injury. Finlay Christie takes his place at scrum half, with Cortez Raitama primed for a debut off the bench after an impressive season with the Chiefs. Beauden Barrett retains a replacement role after helping to steer the All Blacks home last week.

New Zealand XV: 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax; 4 Scott Barrett (capt.), 5 Patrick Tuipulotu; 6 Samipeni Finau, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 8 Ardie Savea; 9 Finlay Christie, 10 Damian McKenzie; 11 Mark Tele’a, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Sevu Reece; 15 Stephen Perofeta.

Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson; 21 Cortez Raitama, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett.

The All Blacks’ management will have been ruing the one that got away as they watched Cunningham-South submit his opposite number with a rampaging display in the first Test. Cunningham-South was born in Kent but raised in New Zealand until he returned to the UK in search of his chance. The hard-running 21-year-old is now a fixture in England’s back row and in Dunedin he made light of Finau’s reputation as an enforcer. Another thunderous outing at blindside flanker will tighten his grip on the jersey.

England wasted a glorious opportunity to triumph on New Zealand soil in the first Test and while that provided their best chance to topple the All Blacks in this series, they showed enough to provide genuine hope for the rematch. New Zealand will be better with their first game since the World Cup final in the bank, but the tourists run out at Eden Park for the final 80 minutes of a mammoth season that began over a year ago. They will empty the tanks knowing that any off-note performances will count against them for selection when the rivals clash again at Twickenham on November 2.