McCaw ready for one more challenge

Flinging mud across the equator at each other has long been a favoured pastime of the rugby media in Britain and New Zealand — but this week you can’t help but wonder if they’re simply looking for a distraction.

Only the most optimistic England supporters expect any other result at Twickenham today except a routine All Blacks victory over the Red Rose. So few are the talking points that captains Chris Robshaw and Richie McCaw spent most of their pre-match press conferences discussing events of the past rather than the future — namely Robshaw’s leadership whoopsies against South Africa and Australia.

We shouldn’t be too surprised, therefore, that the juiciest stuff is emerging in the phoney wars of the opinion columns.