England v New Zealand
Second-quarter scoring key at Twickenham
Richard Kelly
November 6, 2014
Julian Savea (R) has made a habit of scoring tries against England © Getty Images
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The All Blacks have landed in Europe for their end-of-year tour, and all eyes are on their Test with England at Twickenham.

While England put in a brave showing in a recent three-Test series in New Zealand, Stuart Lancaster's side were ultimately outclassed in a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of the All Blacks.

However, the last two meetings between these sides at the home of English rugby have produced stirring games, with England winning at a canter in 2012 and then producing a comeback to go close to beating the world champions last year. This match is being dubbed as the World Cup hosts' acid test ahead of next year's global showpiece.

Ahead of this game, we look at the scoring trends of both sides over the past year. We also compare these figures over their last five meetings, broken down into the two clashes at Twickenham (2012 and 2013) as well as the series in New Zealand in June of this year.

2014 scoring trends

Unsurprisingly, it is the All Blacks who have the upper hand over England when it comes to points-scoring this year. We broke down the average hauls by both teams into 10-minute spells, of which New Zealand have the edge in six.

So far this year though, England have averaged slightly more points than the All Blacks in the opening 10 minutes of matches, as well as the 10 minutes in the lead up to the hour mark. With a boisterous home crowd behind them, England will attempt to burst out of the blocks in the hope they might catch the All Blacks a little cold after what was nothing more than a training run against the United States last week.

A real area for concern for England comes at the start of the second quarter. They are yet to score a try in eight Tests in this 10-minute block, while New Zealand have scored more points in this period of the game than at any other. Indeed, England's average of 1.5 points per game in this eighth is their lowest haul across their matches.

2012-2013 England v New Zealand Tests

New Zealand were simply blown away by the English when they travelled to London in 2012, and they learned from these mistakes in 2013. Across the two Tests, England actually excelled in the time period where they've struggled in 2014; between the 21st and 30th minute.

2012-2013 England v New Zealand
Segment (Minutes)
Points
Tries
Penalty Goals
England
0-10
3
0
1
New Zealand
0-10
7
1
0
England
11-20
0
0
0
New Zealand
11-20
10
1
1
England
21-30
10
1
1
New Zealand
21-30
0
0
0
England
31-40
15
0
4
New Zealand
31-40
3
0
1
England
41-50
3
0
1
New Zealand
41-50
7
1
0
England
51-60
16
2
2
New Zealand
51-60
7
1
0
England
61-70
10
1
1
New Zealand
61-70
7
1
0
England
71-80
3
0
1
New Zealand
71-80
10
1
1

Strong 20-minute spells in the lead up to half-time and midway through the second halves of these games were crucial in the Red Rose matching the world champions. England must replicate those points-scoring deeds in the second quarter if they're to be in with a chance this weekend, particularly as they limited the Kiwis to a combined three points in 2012 and 2013.

2014 Steinlager Series

With New Zealand at home this time, it was their turn to excel in the lead up to half-time. They scored 23 points to England's three in the three 20-minute blocks of these Tests. Both sides scored plenty of points in the opening and closing stages of these matches, as well as the opening moments after half-time. This helped create some topsy-turvy matches while lapses in concentration after the break won't have pleased either Stuart Lancaster or Steve Hansen.

Both sides have been reasonably strong in the lead up to half-time in 2014, but in the recent history of this famous Test it has been the home side which has seized the initiative just before the break.

2014 Steinlager Series
Segment (Minutes)
Points
Tries
Penalty Goals
England
0-10
16
1
3
New Zealand
0-10
15
2
1
England
11-20
6
0
2
New Zealand
11-20
6
0
2
England
21-30
3
0
1
New Zealand
21-30
10
1
1
England
31-40
0
0
0
New Zealand
31-40
13
1
2
England
41-50
10
1
1
New Zealand
41-50
12
2
0
England
51-60
0
0
0
New Zealand
51-60
3
0
1
England
61-70
3
0
1
New Zealand
61-70
10
1
1
England
71-80
17
2
1
New Zealand
71-80
15
2
1

England matched New Zealand for long periods of their series in the southern hemisphere, but were outgunned significantly in the second quarter and, in particular, the third eighth of their matches.

Indeed, England ripped into the All Blacks during the second quarter of the two most recent Twickenham meetings between the nations. If this pattern continues this weekend the All Blacks will have a game on their hands; but if Hansen's charges can limit England's scoring in this period, they should extend their winning run against the English and strike a heavy psychological blow ahead of RWC 2015.

© Opta Stats for ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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