England's Phil Dowson prepares for his first start against the Maori in Napier © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

Matches: New Zealand Maori 35 - 28 England

Players/Officials: Brad Barritt | Phil Dowson

Tournaments/Tours: England tour

Teams: England | New Zealand | New Zealand Maori

England will look to gatecrash the New Zealand Maoris' centenary celebrations when the two sides clash in Napier on Wednesday.

Martin Johnson's side enter the clash on the back of an historic 21-20 victory over Australia in Sydney last weekend - their first on southern hemisphere soil since they lifted the Rugby World Cup in 2003 - and as a result their latest tour is destined to be considered a success no matter the fortunes of the second string in the team's final outing before returning home.

However, the dirt-trackers will be keen to back up their own hard-fought victory - a 15-9 win against the Australian Barbarians in Gosford last week - and maintain their unbeaten record on tour having drawn their first clash with the select side in Perth. But the Maori are in search of a clean sweep of their centenary matches, having defeated the New Zealand Barbarians before seeing off Ireland 31-28 and will be hoping to conjure a repeat of the 62-14 mauling they handed out to England in 1998 during their infamous 'Tour of Hell'.

The Maori are likely to pose a more significant threat up front than England faced on the Australian leg of their tour but if the hosts are to gain some advantage in the forward battle they are going to have to improve their discipline that undid much of their good work against Ireland. A repeat performance will likely see them punished by England fly-half Charlie Hodgson who helped kick the tourists to victory in their last outing. But if the Maori can solve their problems up front they have the talent in the back division to trouble any side as they showed against the Irish with fly-half Stephen Brett, wing Hosea Gear and centre Luke McAlister the stand out names.

Unsurprisingly, England are not taking their latest opponents lightly with Johnson talking up the Maori strengths and labelling the game as the unofficial third Test of the tour. But back-to-back tour victories will have energised his squad and they have plenty of momentum as they prepare for the last clash of an epic season.

Despite the fact that many of their Test players headed home after their Sydney triumph, England have still named a strong squad for the McLean Park clash including wing Chris Ashton who notched one of his side's two tries against the Wallabies last Saturday. Fellow Sydney heroes - prop Dan Cole, scrum-half Ben Youngs and fullback Ben Foden - are all primed to come off the bench. Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw skippers the side while Saracens centre Brad Barritt is handed his first start at the expense of the injured Olly Barkley. Barritt, the latest South African-born player to pull on an England shirt, will partner Mathew Tait in midfield who had been set to start on the wing only for an ankle injury to rule Dominic Waldouck out of the game.

Northampton No.8 Phil Dowson is another to be granted his first start having featured off the bench against the Barbarians. With Matt Banahan suspended and Ugo Monye injured, Ashton is pressed into action again just four days after their famous Sydney triumph. Danny Care gets a chance to put the pressure back on Youngs, who took his place at scrum-half for the second Test and produced an outstanding performance as England drew the series. Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw will be captain as England's midweek side look to go unbeaten on tour after a draw and a win against the Australian Barbarians.

A notable feature of the England squad is the inclusion in the replacements of forward Dan Ward-Smith, a former New Zealand Maori Colt. England's elite set-up contains other players of Maori heritage in backs Riki Flutey and Shontayne Hape, neither of whom has made the trip to New Zealand.

New Zealand Maori coach Jamie Joseph has made two changes to his side as they look for what would be the biggest scalp of their centenary fixtures. Flanker Karl Lowe is rewarded with a starting spot after scoring a try in Friday's historic win over Ireland in Rotorua, while prop Clint Newland is promoted from the bench. Lowe starts at blindside, with skipper Liam Messam moving to No.8 in place of Colin Bourke.

There is added incentive for what is in effect a New Zealand 'A' side with All Blacks coach Graham Henry admitting earlier this week that he will be watching the game closely as he considers cover for the senior squad ahead of this year's Tri-Nations.

The occasion and the opposition will ensure a tough tour finale for England and Johnson would not have it any other way as his side continue their preparations for a return to New Zealand next year for the Rugby World Cup.

"The fortunate thing with England is wherever you go, everyone wants to beat you and that's quite nice," he said this week. "It makes every game a big game and that's great. The bigger the game the better. That's what we've come for."

New Zealand Maori: R Robinson (Southland); S Maitland (Canterbury), D Sweeney (Waikato), L McAlister (North Harbour), H Gear (Wellington); S Brett (Canterbury), A Smith (Manawatu); C Newland (Hawke's Bay), C Flynn (Canterbury), B Afeaki (North Harbour), H Triggs (Otago), J Hoeata (Taranaki), K Lowe (Hawke's Bay), T Latimer (Bay of Plenty), L Messam (Waikato, capt)

Replacements: D Coles (Wellington), B Murray (Northland), I Ross (Canterbury), C Bourke (Bay of Plenty), R Tipuna (Wellington), W Ripia (Taranaki), J Willison (Waikato)

England: D Armitage (London Irish); D Strettle (Harlequins), M Tait (Sale Sharks), B Barritt (Saracens), C Ashton (Northampton); C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), D Care (Harlequins); D Flatman (Bath), G Chuter (Leicester), P Doran-Jones (Gloucester), D Attwood (Gloucester), G Parling (Leicester), C Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), S Armitage (London Irish), P Dowson (Northampton).

Replacements: R Webber (Wasps), D Cole (Leicester), D Ward-Smith (Wasps), J Haskell (Stade Francais), B Youngs (Leicester), S Geraghty (Northampton), B Foden (Northampton).