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England in New Zealand 2014
Out of the frying pan
Tom Hamilton
May 27, 2014
Danny Cipriani in England training on Monday © Getty Images
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After summer colds are staved off and any end-of-season injuries are neatly sidestepped, focus can finally turn to England's tour of New Zealand. Well at least that's how it should be, but due to the logistical nightmare facing Stuart Lancaster due to the proximity of the Aviva Premiership final to the first Test on June 7, talk of the convoluted method by which he gets his players over to New Zealand has dominated the media coverage of the tour.

Monday's announcement of the 30-man squad travelling to New Zealand can draw a line under that for the time being. You could forgive the England coaching staff if they are looking forward to seeing some balls passed and kicked in anger. Excuses will be put to one side, talking will be done on the field and questions and answers can focus on rugby rather than calendars.

Ever since Lancaster took over England, he has used New Zealand as the benchmark, they have been the team who has sat at the top of the IRB rankings and have been the pace-setters. We are now just two years after when Lancaster was handed the England job on a full-time basis. When he took on the job, he spoke of three objectives.

"The first is pride in wearing the shirt and the connection with people. The advantage of playing a home World Cup is the power of the nation behind you. I want everyone to feel part of this team. The second is the vision for the future, and that is to win the World Cup in 2015. The third is for the players to play without fear and seize their opportunities when they come to play for England."

He has achieved his first aim, Twickenham was rocking during the Six Nations and talk of culture has been so prevalent throughout his tenure that those players who have not bought into it will be watching England on television this summer rather than journeying to face the All Blacks.

Now comes parts two and three, both will be put under the spotlight across their five matches in June. The seven uncapped players he named in the 30-man squad for the game against the All Blacks on June 7 will have to play without fear and subscribe to his vision for the future. Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ed Slater appear to be two figures who fit both categories; they have proved their credentials in the Premiership, appear to have the right mindset and must now make the next step up.

But Test debuts are tough, they are even more ruthless when they come against the world's best side. The All Blacks are in a good place on the other side of the world. At the weekend there were two all-New Zealand matches in Super Rugby. Both were played at a high standard and boasted incredible levels of individual skill.

The All Blacks may wait a while longer to blood promising players, but for England they will not have such a choice. If Billy Twelvetrees and Rob Webber are fit, there are likely to be two uncapped players - Chris Pennell and Cowan-Dickie/ Dave Ward - in the Test 23 for that match on June 7. If Twelvetrees and Webber are crocked, that figure will rise to three or four - Pennell, Cowan-Dickie, Ward and possibly Henry Trinder. Strength in depth will be pushed to its limits.

"The experience of our side is completely different to the experience of the All Blacks side we are going to be facing," Lancaster said on Monday. "The strength, stability and consistency they have in their selection. Even though we are in the middle of the Super XV season, they have very few injuries at the moment so they're probably selecting from full strength, give or take.

"We're not quite in the same position but we've never really been in that position since I started to be honest. We've always been in that position of being inexperienced in relation to the teams we play. We back ourselves, we back the coaches, we back the players and the quality of the competition they play in over here.

"I think some people sometimes under-estimate that. I look at the quality of the Aviva Premiership and think we've got a lot of good players and we bring them into this environment, we get the best out of them. The trick for us is to give them belief and belief they can win that first Test."

When England fly out to New Zealand on Tuesday, Lancaster will have 24 hours where he will be sat on the plane in his own world. When he lands in New Zealand, it will be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire - there will be few hiding places. For him and the players, the tour will start when they first step out at Auckland airport.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
Tom Hamilton is the Associate Editor of ESPNscrum.
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Tom Hamilton was brought up near the stands of the Recreation Ground and joined ESPN in 2011. He is now Associate Editor of ESPNscrum.
Follow him on Twitter @tomESPNscrum