Clueless Kiwi Retallick fails to name single England player ahead of Test

England have been gifted their team talk for Saturday’s first Test against New Zealand after blundering All Black Brodie Retallick failed to correctly name a member of Stuart Lancaster’s squad.

Asked if he knew any of the tourists ahead of the series opener at Eden Park, Retallick responded “a couple”. When pressed for a name, the second row said “Michael Lawes”.

Retallick appeared to be referring to Courtney Lawes, who is en route to New Zealand having helped Northampton win the Aviva Premiership final last weekend and consequently is unavailable for the first Test. It confirms the long-held suspicion that there is little awareness of European rugby among the southern hemisphere giants.