England v New Zealand: England geared up for battle with All Blacks

And Leeds Carnegie hooker Thompson has invoked the spirit of Wellington 2003, when he, Johnson and a six-man pack destroyed the All Blacks's full complement of forwards to set up a famous 15-13 win.

That victory came just months after England won all four Autumn Internationals against the southern hemisphere superpowers en route to their crowning achievement in the World Cup final in Sydney 12 months later.

But in their eight meetings since, New Zealand have won every time, creating an aura of invincibility against the Red Rose.

Australia brought the All Blacks' 15-match unbeaten run to an end in Hong Kong last week but Johnson, whose side includes five players making their Twickenham debut in England colours, knows his young charges must stand tall against the Kiwi backlash.

"It is going to be a real battle. We will get physically and mentally tested and we have got to be up for it," he said.

"We have to be realistic – we will have to play the best this team has played in a Test match to beat these guys. We have the confidence and belief in what we do.

"The team is developing very well. What we know about the players is far better after the tour (Down Under). The squad is in a pretty good place.

"It is a long time since England have beaten New Zealand, because they are very good and don't like losing to England. You always expect the All Blacks to play well. I have never seen them play badly."

Thompson, who has retained his place after his summer arrival at Leeds, has two wins in five outings against the All Blacks – a creditable return against such a dominant force – and has spent the week at the team's Bagshot training ground convincing the squad's younger members that New Zealand are by no means unbeatable.

"They are human, they do make mistakes, they do miss tackles," said the 32-year-old, who seven years ago produced a fearsome display in Wellington after England had lost Thompson's now club coach Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio to the sin bin.

"You've got to have a bit of that fear factor but on the other hand you can't let that fear factor get on top of you. You've really got to go for them and just believe in yourselves.

"Once the Haka and the anthems are done, you have to go out there and meet fire with fire. What sometimes happens, especially when people haven't played against New Zealand before, is that the aura beats them before they even start. We have to treat them as just another team."

What guise England's game plan takes could be a decisive factor. Defence coach Mike Ford suggested in the week the primary aim would be to stifle an All Blacks side that went try-crazy during the summer Tri Nations, while outside observer Back believes an offensive foothold can be gained out wide.

The final say, though, goes to Johnson, who wants a more fluid approach. He said: "Despite where Mike is coming from with his defensive hat on, we are not slaves to playing in any one way.

"Guys need to play heads up, what's in front of them. If the space is not where we thought it might be, we need to attack it. Any structure we have is there to enable our players to play.

"We have told the guys they are not a slave to any structure. We will attack them when the time is right but if the heads-up rugby is to kick the ball because there is space in their back-field and it is raining, then we will.

"Winning Test matches is what we are here to do and we will do it in the most efficient way. We have some real ability and dynamism in our forward pack and we need to use it."

Thompson brings dynamism to his position, as does Hendre Fourie in the back row, Leeds's 31-year-old South Africa-born flanker who is poised to make his debut from the bench.

Aside from Fourie, Otley-born Mike Tindall, former Leeds lock Tom Palmer and the returning Andrew Sheridan at prop, the bulk of Johnson's squad are in their early 20s with Thompson, who is currently enjoying a career renaissance after quitting the sport through injury three years ago, confident the young guns can provide a platform on which to build.

"Back in 2002 and 2003 we had a lot of players coming towards the end of their careers," he said. "Now, as well as that experience we have a lot of young lads who are just starting to believe in themselves and are ready to express themselves.

"After 2003 England perhaps lived off certain victories and didn't move on. We can't do that this time. We have to tick off what we did in our last game then move on to the next game."