England and New Zealand will play out their 47th Test match on Sunday morning, with the old foes having done battle since 1905. The results have largely favoured the All Blacks, who have won 36, lost eight and drawn two, and they have enjoyed success in most of the recent clashes too. New Zealand have won the last three games between the two nations, with a draw in 2022 and a win to England in the 2019 World Cup coming in the two games prior. New Zealand have an 18-5-2 all-time record against England at Twickenham.
England have been in fine form in their November internationals, continuing what has been an impressive 2025. Their 4-1 record in the Six Nations wasn’t good enough to win the crown, as France had one extra bonus point and a superior points difference. However, a 26-25 victory over Les Bleus provided plenty of encouragement for England fans and they continued that form in July with two wins over Argentina and a comfortable victory over the USA. Two tries in the final 10 minutes resulted in a convincing 25-7 win over Australia to start their November internationals, before they took care of Fiji last week with a 38-18 triumph.
New Zealand have also had a fine start to their November internationals, following up their win over Ireland in Chicago with a 25-17 victory over Scotland last week. It was a thrilling contest in Edinburgh, as the hosts came storming out of the gates in the second half to come back from 0-17 down to tie the game at 17-17 by the 60-minute mark. Yellow cards to Ardie Savea and Wallace Sititi looked to have the ABs in deep trouble, but Scott Robertson’s men were able to absorb waves of Scottish attacks before Damian McKenzie capped off an incredible performance off the bench with a breathtaking finish in the corner, giving the ABs some breathing room. A clutch penalty goal with two minutes to play put NZ two scores in front, and that was enough to secure the win to maintain the ABs’ unbeaten record against the Scots.
We can expect another barnburner of a game this Sunday morning, with a very strong English team being named by Steve Borthwick, headlined by Maro Itoje, George Ford, Jamie George, Freddie Steward in the starting team, while the ‘Pom Squad’ marks an imposing bench unit that contains Tom Curry, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Marcus Smith, to name a few. It’s also a good New Zealand team, with Scott Barrett returning from injury and Simon Parker coming back into the starting team in place of Sititi. Caleb Clarke (concussion) has been ruled out, seeing Leicester Fainga’anuku move to the wing and Billy Proctor come in at centre.
After a couple of close calls to start the November Tests, I think this is where the ABs will come undone. It’s a very impressive England lineup, with size, experience and smarts throughout the team and they have been building a big 2025 which I expect to culminate in a win over New Zealand. As slight underdogs, England are the bet here.
Best
England +0.5 ($1.90)
Value
England 1-12 ($2.90)