Martin Johnson will be 11,000 miles away when England go into battle with the All Blacks...but he will still be running the show.
England head into the first Test in Auckland next Saturday with Johnson back in England for the birth of his new baby and elite rugby director Rob Andrew holding the reins out in New Zealand.
However, Johnson insisted: "I may not be there in body but I'll still have plenty of input on team selection and the style of play.
"It's a little more difficult to run things from this side of the planet, but we're fortunate to have mobile phones as well as hotel phones these days.
"Whenever I take up any kind of challenge I go into it to win, not to just take part and hope for the best. You can bet that hundreds or even thousands of England fans will pay good money to get out there to watch and cheer on the team.
"They don't want to be short changed and the guys who have been picked don't intend to be second best. The players out there know they face a very hard task to beat the All Blacks on their own turf.
"They have been the best team in the world consistently now for many years, even though they have slipped up in the World Cups. But they are rebuilding and have lost some men since France.
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"So it should be a very interesting and intriguing couple of games. I want to see how players react to being in such a pressurised environment, and who copes or doesn't cope in the intensity of it all."
Lawrence Dallaglio tips England's talented pack to dish out plenty of punishment to their All Black rivals.
The recently retired Wasps star reckons England - despite players missing through injury or on a break after a long hard season - still have the forwards to front up to the Kiwis.
Dallaglio claimed: "You look at the players going, they should have not qualms about giving as good as they get from the All Blacks.
"I know how good the likes of James Haskell, Tom Rees and Joe Worsley are because they've been my Wasps team-mates.
"James and Tom have had superb seasons and were two big reasons why we won the Guinness Premiership.
"They have proved themselves high class performers and won't be worried about facing the All Blacks."
