England have never won a tour in New Zealand
England captain Jamie George says he will take a lesson he learned during the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour with him for the nation’s tour this summer.
George will lead England in two games against the All Blacks in July. It will be his first tour abroad skippering his country after taking over the duties in 2024.
Read more: England summer series squad
“I’ve been over there and I know how hard it is to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand. I learnt a huge amount in 2017,” George told BBC Sport. “[The first Test] is a big regret of mine. I was pretty young into my international career and it was the biggest game that I had ever played in.
“But we sort of dipped our toe in, whereas in the second Test and the third we started to take them on rather than waiting to see how good they were.
“Sitting back and waiting and wondering what the All Blacks are going to be all about – that is not what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to make sure we try and go over there and play the England way.”
Jamie George running with the ball (Getty Images)
England got their summer games underway against Japan on 22 June. The side won the match 52-17 but they will have to step up their performances if they are to win the New Zealand tour.
England have only ever toured New Zealand twice, in 1973 and 2003, and have never won a two or three game series in the country.
George insists England can win but they will need to not respect their opposition too much.
“I think the aura and the respect that we have for them is as high as it has even been,” George added. “But at the same time we can’t sit back and pay too much respect, we have got to go over there and assert ourselves in the way that we want to.
“If we are just in awe of what the All Blacks are, then we are not going to be in the right headspace to go out and beat them. And that is our intention. To go over there and beat New Zealand in New Zealand.”
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