England v New Zealand: As England's players file out of their dressingroom tomorrow they will pass a plaque near the door. The inscription contains 16 words: "The pride and tradition of England will not be entrusted to the timid or the weak."
That message could hardly be more relevant. The home team will need to be strong to defy New Zealand but, above all, they have to be brave.
Physically it is a prerequisite for England to front up if they wish to avoid a sixth straight defeat, just one short of their all-time low-water mark back in 1972. The real challenge, though, is mental. Do a patched-up side, low on confidence, play to their forward strengths with the aim of grinding out an upset win? Or do they dare to ditch the weighty baggage of recent results and embrace the multifaceted, faster brand of rugby they know is the only way forward in the longer term?
Gritty defiance or glorious failure? In a sense, either will do as long as the team show a revival in spirit. A record crowd of 82,000 will be seeking reassurance that English rugby has a pulse.
Over the next four weekends Andy Robinson and his coaches will also be looking for signs that their struggling team can indeed be repaired between now and the World Cup. English clubs have not gone well in Europe so far this season but the autumn schedule offers a chance of swift redemption.
Winning two of their four Tests - the All Blacks, Argentina and South Africa (twice) - would be just about par for the course. Win three, in some style, and the shackles will be gloriously off. All four and suddenly France 2007 will be a prospect to relish.
Lose all four and Robinson will be struggling to justify retaining his job.
Injuries, without question, have slashed his options; there is no way England would have fielded tomorrow's back three if everyone had been fit. But the pack is pretty much the toughest available and the half-backs are also first choices.
If they fold tamely beneath a familiar All Blacks onslaught and then go down to the Pumas, it really will be time to swing the wrecking ball.
Nor can the odds-on All Blacks, beaten only once in their last 16 Tests, be relied upon to be as generous as they were in the corresponding fixture last season when they were not at their best and had three players sent to the sinbin, even though they still won 23-19. Their coach, Graham Henry, says it was the only occasion in 32 Tests under him that the team received even one yellow card.
Even so, the England prop Andrew Sheridan rates it as the toughest match he has ever played in.
"It took quite a few days to get over," he admitted this week. "I suspect this weekend's match will be every bit as tough. They've got the best scrum in the world at the moment."
With Dan Carter drafted in yesterday to start at number 10 for the hamstrung Nick Evans, there will be no respite behind the scrum.
New Zealand have scored 26 tries in their last nine Tests but are keen to boost their rate still further. If there are defensive doubts over the centre pairing of Aaron Mauger and Ma'a Nonu, no one could accuse this All Blacks squad of diffidence with ball in hand.
It is up to England, therefore, to knock them back early as South Africa did in their 21-20 Tri-Nations success in Rustenburg two months ago. Having made those initial dents, they then need to prove they have heeded Brian Ashton's wise counsel.
Ashton, England's recalled attack coach, will not be satisfied with a performance that does not at least pose some unexpected questions.
Henry expects England to be more attack-minded and he is surely correct.
It will be an immediate test of the 20-year-old centre Anthony Allen's maturity but the pivotal debutant is the scrumhalf Shaun Perry. If the life-changing rise of Perry from unknown Dudley welder to the national team inside 18 months is a fairytale, his kicking game and option-taking will have to be to the manor born.
It is asking a lot of the Bristol number nine to make a name for himself in the space of 80 minutes but if England are to duck a 15-point loss, he has no other option.
Guardian Service
