England today face the ultimate challenge of playing an All Black side widely acknowledged as the most complete rugby machine ever to set foot on these shores.
Some of the most gifted performers the game has produced - Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Ian Jones, Craig Dowd - will, in their devastating way, set England problems that will test their commitment, fitness and tactical acumen to the outer limits.
Clive Woodward's young inexperienced side may be playing at home - well, Old Trafford almost counts as home - yet the full burden of public expectation rests on the All Blacks who are overwhelming favourites to win by a margin of 20 to 30 points.
Within the past seven days crushing victories over Ireland (63-15) and Emerging England (59-22) have shown that All Black power is an awesome reality that continues to set ground-breaking standards. It is a measure of the All Blacks' outlook that coach John Hart dismisses the hype that surrounds each fresh triumph and instead focuses sharply on areas of perceived weakness.
Last Saturday, for example, the Irish raised a few eyebrows by taking a 15-11 lead before New Zealand found their customary rhythm and romped away to a record win. No one can be certain Hart has addressed the "problem" of his team's slow start with the sort of detailed video analysis that bodes ill for England.
England, for their part, are now in a far more realistic frame of mind than they were during the build-up to their dismal drawn Test with Australia at Twickenham. Instead of ill-judged fantasy talk about "an exciting new side", that included a highly risky five new caps, the selectors have recalled two trusty front row forwards Darren Garforth and Richard Cockerill who earned their international spurs on last summer's short demanding tour to Argentina.
Whatever reservations one may entertain about a rather callow back division, England certainly have a more street-wise appearance in the scrum which will have to be rock-steady against a New Zealand tight five that knows its onions. It would be reassuring to see the athletic, big-hitting Tim Rodber return to the back row once he proves his fitness, but for the moment England possess a Test pack with the credentials to go to war.
If Woodward can quietly set aside his bizarre policy of picking untried youngsters simply on the basis of their club form and concentrate instead on identifying players of genuine long-term Test pedigree (whose club form may be variable), then England could yet develop a side that excites the imagination in the run-up to the 1999 World Cup.
As matters stand, talented newcomers like Matt Perry and David Rees have a rare opportunity to pit their wits and skills against the likes of Cullen and Lomu who plays his first Test in more than a year.
England though will look mainly to last summer's successful Lions, Jason Leonard, Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill, Mike Catt, and Will Greenwood, and the former England skipper Phil de Glanville, to dig deep and come up with the performance of their lives.
Victory may seem an improbable target for a collection of individuals, some of whom barely know each other, yet it is worth recalling that England were given no chance of beating New Zealand in 1993 before they went on to gain a remarkable 15-9 triumph.
In his second game as captain, Dallaglio may feel there is nothing to be learned from that performance that can be usefully applied to the first wholly professional confrontation between the sides. However, the All Blacks, now as then, find it impossible to function on eight cylinders whenever their primary possession is severely disrupted, hence their early hesitation against Ireland.
England have to be prepared to engage in guerrilla tactics at every scrum and line-out - their traditional areas of strength - as well as being willing to risk conceding penalties in relatively harmless areas of the field. When the tight-head prop Garforth spoke of "playing right in their faces" it was evident that he felt the All Blacks must be prevented from crossing the gain line. To achieve that, England's forwards need to destroy opposition ball at source and in doing so forestall their rhythm.
England: M Perry (Bath); D Rees (Sale), W Green- wood (Leicester), P de Glanville (Bath), A Adebayo (Bath); M Catt (Bath), K Bracken (Saracens); J Leonard (Harlequins), R Cockerill (Leicester), D Garforth (Leicester), M Johnson (Leicester), G Archer (Newcastle), L Dallaglio (Wasps, capt), R Hill (Saracens), T Diprose (Saracens). Replacements: P Grayson (Northampton), A Healey (Leicester), G Rowntree (Leicester), A Long (Bath), D Grewcock (Saracens), N Back (Leicester). New Zealand: C Cullen (Central Vikings); J Wilson (Otago), F Bunce (North Harbour), A Ieremia (Wellington), J Lomu (Counties); A Mehrtens (Canterbury), J Marshall (Canterbury, capt); C Dowd (Auckland), N Hewitt (Southland), O Brown (Auckland), I Jones (North Harbour), R Brooke (Auckland), T Randell (Otago), J Kronfeld (Otago), Z Brooke (Auckland). Replacements: S McLeod (Waikato), J Preston (Wellington), M Allen (Central Vikings), A Oliver (Otago), C Reichelmann (Auckland), A Blowers (Auckland).
Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia).
