New Zealand v England, 3rd Test
Parling ruled out with Launchbury starting
Tom Hamilton in Hamilton
June 19, 2014
Joe Launchbury starts the third Test for England © Getty Images
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England will be without Geoff Parling for the third Test against New Zealand as he is suffering with a hamstring injury.

With Parling out, Joe Launchbury starts and Dave Attwood is named on the bench. Launchbury's promotion back to the first XV will see him line up alongside Courtney Lawes in the partnership that England opted for throughout the Six Nations.

It will be a blow as Lancaster earlier this week described Parling as the "outstanding forward" of England's tour. They go into Saturday's match 2-0 down in the series but the general message from the camp this week is that the match is much more than a dead-rubber.

New Zealand are chasing their 17th straight victory, a feat that has only been managed twice by a Tier one side in the past, and for England hooker Dylan Hartley, ending that run is a motivational factor in itself.

"I think the way we have played and the manner we have carried ourselves down here I think we have a lot to be proud of," Hartley said. "But results are what we're after and we have come short. As a team we're very honest, we want to get better, we want to win these games. While we are happy with the way it's gone so far, we are bitterly disappointed we haven't got a result.

"A separate challenge is the All Blacks' record of 17-straight games. There's motivation in itself for me and the boys to finish the season with a bang. I don't want to go away with the five-weeks holiday to dwell on a loss. We've made a good account of ourselves but we want the result as the icing on the cake. It's not a dead-rubber on either team's side."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
Tom Hamilton is the Associate Editor of ESPNscrum.

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