Eddie Jones believes he has the blueprint for beating New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon, a result that he says would be akin to "climbing Everest".
The England head coach sat down with his senior players on Sunday night to work through the notes they had compiled from their Lions experiences in New Zealand last year, when the All Blacks were defeated in Wellington in a drawn series.
Optimism: England coach Eddie Jones believes he has the experience and knowledge to upset the All Blacks.Credit:AP
Jones also pointed to his win ratio as a former Wallaby coach of 42 per cent against them, as well as the insider knowledge that former All Black player and head coach John Mitchell brings in his new capacity as England defence coach.
"When our boys played for the Lions we got them to do notes about what they felt worked and didn't work," said Jones. "We've gone through those notes. We had a meeting with the senior players on Sunday night and we have a pretty good idea how we want to play against New Zealand.
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"With that Lions knowledge, and John's as well, we have a pretty good idea of what they're going to bring, but you have got to be good enough to beat them.
"The Lions put a lot of pressure on the All Blacks in areas they didn't enjoy and were able to get them off rhythm. They put pressure on their line-out and took a lot of tempo out of it.
"At times, too, they put pressure on their playmakers, but you have got to be able to do that consistently well. You have got to play a certain way against them, there is no doubt about that.
"There are parts of the game that they enjoy and you want to take that away from them. You need to be absolutely brutal up front and be clinical when opportunities come.
"The Lions would have won the series if they had been clinical. The challenge is to make New Zealand feel as though they are not confident, that there is something at the back of their head that they have got to scratch."
Jones professes enormous admiration for New Zealand as well as for their head coach, Steve Hansen. There will be no resorting to any pre-match verbals from Jones, as was the case when he came up against his one-time Randwick teammate, Wallaby head coach Michael Cheika.
"Steve [Hansen] has been round the block too many times," said Jones, who hails the All Blacks' win record of 91 per cent as the best in the sporting world.
The Australian is well aware of how difficult a task it will be to implement the game plan he and his squad have been working on, but he knows just what an upbeat feeling it is to win against the All Blacks.
Jones is a big admirer of New Zealand coach and good friend Steve Hansen.Credit:AAP
"You climb Everest when you beat New Zealand," said Jones. "You change their whole country. You're respected. Rugby means so much to them. I have never coached against a New Zealand side that doesn't expect to win. It is in their blood.
"You go to a sandwich shop and they tell you how they're going to beat you. You go to fill up your car and they tell you how they're going to beat you. It is in the psyche of their country. When they win the whole country is buoyant. When they lose, the GDP falls, unemployment goes up, everything changes, that's the effect you have.
"I don't think we've had that sort of effect on Brexit by beating South Africa. Theresa May won't be coming out to say we got the [Brexit] result because the rugby team hung in there."
Jones acknowledges New Zealand have made notable strides in their own game since winning the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2011, making it all the more difficult for opponents to live with them, no matter how polished their approach might be going into the fixture.
"The 91 per cent figure shows you that it is not simple to beat them," said Jones. "With Australia [in the early 2000s] we could beat [New Zealand] because we could get to their set-piece, particularly their line-out. Since 2011 their line-out has gone from good to outstanding. So has their scrum and so has their depth of squad.
"You only have to have watched their B/C team beat Japan on Saturday, putting 69 points on the 11th- ranked side in the world and they played within themselves.
When (New Zealand) lose, the GDP falls, unemployment goes up, everything changes, that's the effect you have.
Eddie Jones
"The enormous competition doesn't allow any of them to be complacent. You can take their confidence away by the attitude with which you start the game, the ferocity you play with and how tactically spot on you are.
"But we have also got to remember that we are trying to be England. We are not trying to be anyone else."
