Forward thinking is key to Dallaglio plan

A total of 14 Rugby World Cup squad heroes are either injured, knackered or retired, leaving the squad assembled in New Zealand to defend a reputation won by others. Clive Woodward has responded by trying to limit the number of variables that could undermine a reconstructed back division by opting for 32-year-old Mike Catt at centre.

His job is to shepherd Charlie Hodgson, Wilkinson's replacement. However, it will require more than mere words to get England through this test.

Scrum-half Matt Dawson, centre Mike Tindall, Hodgson and Catt himself were dogged by injury at the end of the season and are short of match practice. The consolation for head coach Woodward is that if the powerful England pack achieves its aim of bludgeoningthe leg strength out of the untried All Black forwards then the English backs could be in for an armchair ride.

The All Blacks, like this reconstructed England team, have yet to play a game in anger together and that makes new coach Graham Henry's side vulnerable. The All Blacks pack is built for cavalry work, ranging far and wide across the field searching for weaknesses to exploit in the defence.

England are equipped for trench warfare. Men such as prop Julian White, hooker Steve Thompson and locks Danny Grewcock and Simon Shaw have one objective tomorrow: smash the nearest All Black into the turf and let him know there's more where that came from. It's a limited gameplan, but one Dallaglio and his men must adopt if they are to walk away victorious.

Twelve months ago, England defeated the All Blacks in Wellington with one of their greatest defensive actions and seven days later demolished Australia in Melbourne.

Those wins provided the self-belief for England to achieve rugby greatness at the World Cup and here we are a year later with many of those same players having to go through it all again - just weeks after a draining domestic season ended in double glory for Dallaglio and his London Wasps.

Dallaglio insists his men are mentally and physically ready for the tasks ahead and said: "The World Cup is in the past - it's in the memory bank. We are here to win and to achieve that we must cut out the panic errors of the Six Nations that meant we lost a couple of games.

"Winning in this part of the world gives confidence, but it comes at a high price.''