Maro Itoje’s England are ready to party like it is 2019 and end their drought against the All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday. Skipper Itoje was part of Eddie Jones’ side who dominated the Kiwis, winning 19-7, in the World Cup semi-final in Yokohama six years ago and reckons a repeat is on the cards.

In the build-up to that game, England’s squad exuded a quiet confidence that is rarely seen in Red Rose outfits ahead of games with New Zealand. Jones had told the All Blacks England were going to ‘chase them down the street’ and they did. And the confidence was not misplaced as they produced their best display under the Aussie but since then it has been all black for England barring a draw in 2022.

They lost three times to the New Zealanders last year, all by tight margins, but Itoje reckons they are primed to stun the Kiwis and derail their hopes of a grand slam against the home nations. The 31-year-old said: “New Zealand are a good team, no doubt about that.

“They possess talent and accuracy and power that’s good enough to hurt any team, but I think we’re ready to take that next step. In 2019, at that stage of the journey of the team, we were ready for that sort of challenge.

“We felt that if we were aggressive and accurate in what we do, we would be able to get them. It was one of those weird games where, they had periods on top, but it felt like there was only one outcome of that game. Hopefully we can do something similar.”

England will arrive at Twickenham on the back of nine straight wins but this game will define their year. The gut-wrenching defeats in Dunedin, Auckland and Twickenham, by an aggregate of 10 points still rankle and Itoje’s side are ready to set the record straight.

He added: “I think this is a moment that we are prepared for. We’re capable, as a team, of winning this, this Test match. I just think we’re capable. I think we’re ready.

“We’ve grown as a team. We’ve had very close encounters with them since 2019 and it’s all been close. There’s been a draw, there’s been very, very narrow losses. We need to have a physical intensity as well as an accuracy to what we do. Playing against the All Blacks, you need to be sharp mentally and you need to execute when you get your opportunities because you don’t get many of them.

“The quality of the playing squad has improved, and matched with the experiences that we’ve all had over the last year or so, we’re just more equipped to take advantage of opportunities at hand.”