Noon: bulking up England's defence

By leaving out Conrad Smith for the benefit of long-term development shows exactly what Graham Henry thinks of England's chances.

Miles Harrison
Quotes of the week

ALL BLACKS V ENGLAND
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New Zealand will be looking for a series whitewash when they meet England in the second Test in Christchurch. The All Blacks showed moments off brilliance in their 37-20 win in Auckland, but will want to turn up the heat against a new look England side, who have shored up their defensive frailties.

England have circled the wagons -- on and off the field -- as alleged rape and/or sexual assault have overshadowed their preparations. However they are determined to build on the positives from the first Test.

Sky Sports rugby commentator Miles Harrison is in Christchurch and spoke to skysports.com about the new look England backline and whether England has any chance of squaring the series.

Rugby has been making news for the wrong reason Miles, how has the off-field allegations affected the England camp?

MILES: I don't want to comment on the conjecture because that is exactly what it is. We will comment on fact and as soon as the facts are known the better for everyone. Rob Andrew is sending out the signal that it has not affected training. He was adamant that his side is as well prepared for this game as they possibly can be. In terms of preparation, that is the stance being taken. It has been a strange old week and the sooner the first whistle blows the sooner the focus will switch back to the rugby the better.

Many have said that the nature of England's loss in the first Test was more disappointing than the actual loss. Do you agree with that?

MILES: I think they are as disappointing as each other. No one likes to lose a Test match. Even though this one was in New Zealand and it is a difficult task, England, as we said last week were going in with a quiet optimism. They were giving themselves a shot and came up someway short.

It was a feisty start and for 20 minutes you felt it was going to be a contest. But it was that period up until and after half time when England were blitzed. England will say that they let them get on top and I suppose that is the disappointing aspect -- the fact that those defensive frailties allowed New Zealand to score those points.

England have rung the changes, especially in the backline. But have they reacted to New Zealand rather than the way they should be playing?

MILES: Well first and foremost they had to look at defence and why those tries were scored. The aim is to get people in who are perhaps going to stop those tries being scored. So is there definitely a defensive element to the selection, but Rob Andrew maintains that it will also try and attack and to look for scoring opportunities.

Although there is a feeling that if you play Jamie Noon and Mike Tindall together you get very much the same sort of character in midfield. It is very tough on Olly Barkley who is totally out of the starting 22 altogether. The selection of Tindall and Noon is first and foremost to shore up the defence, that does not mean that England will not look to attack and try to get the ball to the cutting edge of their attack force which will be Mathew Tait at fullback and wingers Topsy Ojo and Tom Varndell.

That will be the plan, but as we saw last week the chances are few and far between. Lat weekend England almost lived off New Zealand's mistakes and they are going to have to do a lot more than that if they want to win the game.

What are your thoughts of Toby Flood in at flyhalf?

MILES: People forget that he was originally a 10. He has played a lot of rugby at flyhalf and would have played a lot more if Jonny Wilkinson had not come back from injury. He also played there as an U21 player and played alongside Danny Care. Although England want to see him play in the No.12 jersey, they also want to see him at flyhalf and they are going to get the chance this weekend. It is a huge opportunity for him, but it is a very difficult situation for him as well, but that is what International rugby is all about.

We are used to seeing front rows climb into each other on the field, but there has been a lot of arguing off the field too this week. Each side have made claims about who had the upper hand in the first Test. How did you see it?

MILES: It all started straight after the game when Graham Henry had a shot at the England scrum for not engaging properly. England themselves had a few comments to make. Matt Stevens had a dig at Neemia Tialata who retaliated with words of his own.

I think early in the game New Zealand did get the better of England at the scrum and was one of the major reasons they managed to engineer the Dan Carter try.

But as the game went on, England came into the fore more and more in that department. I honestly don't think there was much to choose between the two set-pieces. By the end of the game I think it was about 50/50 but New Zealand would say that the game was won when England got on top and they may have a very good point.

Let's talk about the positives for England and what they can build on in the second Test.

MILES: Well England did disrupt New Zealand line-out ball, but then again New Zealand disrupted their own ball, They would have taken a long look at that and not have been particularly happy with what they saw. Ali Williams was not happy with his performance last week and described it as Rats.

That was one area that went well for England and the backrow went very well too. I think all three, especially Tom Rees and Luke Narraway caught the eye. Rees lived with Richie McCaw which takes some doing and is a feather in his cap. But he has to go and do that all again to show that he can play at that level consistently. Narraway suggested that there is a lot more to come from him.

Danny Care came on last week and admitted that he was nervous. He made an initial mistake, but I tell you what, he bounced back from that very well indeed.

That takes a lot of doing and he did not let the doubts creep in. His confidence started to grow, and I am delighted he has another chance -- I think he is the real deal and has a very promising future.

Topsy Ojo took his chances very well too -- Mike Tindall said that Ojo touched the ball three times and scored twice, which is not a bad ratio.

There were certainly some plusses from the first Test, but England will want more than that, they want plusses through the team.

New Zealand have made a few changes as well. What can you tell us about the new All Blacks?

MILES: These are carefully thought out changes. They have had these three matches ahead of the Tri-Nations and Henry wants to look at various options.

By bringing in Richard Kahui, I think there is an element of preserving Conrad Smith for the Tri-Nations. Henry realises that there are bigger battles to come -- especially against South Africa -- who many over here believe are going to be very strong.

Conrad Smith was key last week and it is a bit of a risk resting him. It does not go down particuarly well in New Zealand -- they despise rotation. The All Black jersey is something that traditionally has to be won and fought for. Once you have got it, you don't give it up without a fight.

Wayne Smith, New Zealand backs coach, wanted the partnership of Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu to continue and to develop, but Henry has overruled him and believes that Kahui can come in and do a job.

I think if you watched any of the Super 14, you would have seen that Kahui certainly is a good player. He is a tall elegant runner, very strong and good at releasing the ball. He has a good step off the side and although he does not have the experience of Smith, he is very capable.

On the wing you have Rudi Wulf who comes in for Anthony Tuitavake. That is very much a like-for-like switch. Wulf broke his neck three years ago diving into a pool, so it is incredible that he has recovered from that and has made it into the international scene.

Adam Thomson comes in on the flank and is a very mobile player. He is very good at the lineout too, he has real spring in his heels. He has come out of a struggling Otago side and looks like a very talented prospect.

So Miles, everyone in England is writing England off. Have they got a chance?

MILES: Well not many here are writing England on! I don't think any New Zealander expect England to win. They have a great confidence at home, and so they should.

There were one or two doubts last week; there have clearly been one or two post world cup frailties. But I don't think there are any such doubts this week. Just to go back to the selection of Kahui, by leaving out Smith for the benefit of long-term development shows exactly what Henry thinks of England's chances. If he had any doubts, then I think Smith would be playing.

That is the size of England's task and no one is giving them a chance. But teams not given a chance can be dangerous. It is to be hoped that England can give them a scare and it is hoped that England can get close.

Of course Rob Andrew and Martin Johnson want England to win, but ultimately they is looking for plusses from one to 15 and is looking for players who can thrive over the next few years. We shall see.