Whilst much of the talk on The Rugby Blog has focused on the plight of England, it’s time to offer our congratulations to Wales, our nearest and dearest neighbours.

It was another bleak day at Twickenham, where England did everything they could to make life difficult for themselves against the All Blacks and were lucky not to lose by more.

Twickenham is the venue this afternoon as New Zealand spearhead the final southern hemisphere assault of this international season. The All Blacks have barely put a foot wrong so far and with England under pressure to salvage some pride, the majority are expecting the tourists to head home on a high.

The All Blacks vs England. Is there a more bitter and passionate game played between two nations? You may argue the contests between South Africa and NZ are up there, but in terms of a pure, do or die victory, the game as far as the All Blacks, and especially the NZ public are concerned, [...]

I’ve rather run out of things to say about England. Printable things anyway. It just feels very much like we’ve been here before. Just about every international window seems to begin with optimism and promise and the longer the team spends together the worse they seem to get.

Martin Johnson has made a bold call in dropping Danny Cipriani for this weekend’s fixture against the All Blacks.

Here’s the team I would like to see lining up against the All Blacks and staring down the Haka.