England try to upset the odds

Taking on the might of Australia and New Zealand with home advantage has proved to be difficult enough in recent years but on their own patch the Antipodeans have been nigh-invincible since Johnny Whiteley's Ashes heroes triumphed in 1970.

Memories are still fresh of Great Britain's 64-10 hammering in Sydney in the ill-fated one-off Test of 2002 and a 52-4 mauling in Melbourne during England's miserable 2008 World Cup, while captain Adrian Morley is one of four survivors from a record 34-4 defeat by the Kiwis at Wellington's Westpac Stadium on their last visit to the Shaky Isles four years ago.

But there have been one-off victories, most recently the

23-12 Tri-Nations triumph in Sydney in 2006, and a win over either the Kiwis in next Saturday's opening clash in Wellington or the Kangaroos in Melbourne eight days later would probably be enough to put Steve McNamara's men through to the Brisbane final.

On the other hand, England's campaign could be virtually over before it gets into full swing if they fail to win their opening fixture.

In the circumstances, then, England have nothing to lose and no one can accuse head coach McNamara of lacking imagination in the selection of his 24-strong squad.

In choosing just seven players from the last World Cup, McNamara has followed on from where his predecessor Tony Smith left off in despatching the old guard and he has certainly been bold in some of his selections.

McNamara has opted for the men in form and with an average age of just 25, the coach has also gone for youth and also made a point of choosing players with enthusiasm and the right attitude.

But England's trump card could be the NRL-based trio of Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis and Gareth Widdop, whose experience of Australasian conditions could be invaluable. Indeed, Burgess and Ellis were dubbed the best second rows in the game by John Lang, the former Australian national coach and now Burgess's boss at South Sydney, while Morley is still revered in Australia after his successful six-year stint with the Roosters.

Throw in James Graham, who would make any world XIII, the in-form Sean O'Loughlin and the exciting James Roby and England can boast a pack to match both the Kiwis and the Kangaroos.

It is outside the pack that question marks remain, as Warrington's Australian hooker Michael Monaghan this week quickly pointed out to the media Down Under.

Whether he plays at full-back or stand-off, Sam Tomkins is a charismatic player guaranteed to trouble even the best defence and England must hope his comparatively little-known team-mates can also make significant contributions.

England will hope to "blow the cobwebs away" when they warm up for the tournament with a match against New Zealand Maori at Auckland's Mount Smart Stadium today.

The tourists flew out of Manchester a week ago and, after a couple of days to acclimatise and shake off the effects of jet lag with some rest and relaxation, McNamara has stepped up the preparations over the last two days.

"We're just where we need to be," he said.

"Our preparations have been calculated to get us to where we are just now and we go into the game in good spirits and good form.

"It has been a tough season for some of the players.

"It was a long trip and we needed to get some things in place before we started to practise seriously for this game so preparations have been a slow, gradual build-up."

England v New Zealand Maori: G Widdop (Melbourne); T Briscoe (Hull), M Shenton (Castleford), R Atkins (Warrington), R Hall (Leeds); K Brown (Huddersfield), S Tomkins (Wigan); A Morley (Warrington, capt), J Roby (St Helens), D Griffin (Huddersfield), G Ellis (Wests Tigers), S Burgess (South Sydney), S O'Loughlin (Wigan).

Substitutes (from): L Robinson (Huddersfield), E Crabtree (Huddersfield), J Tomkins (Wigan), B Westwood (Warrington), B Harrison (Warrington), L Cudjoe (Huddersfield).