England captain Chris Robshaw has spoken of the importance that cool heads will play in the build-up to Saturday's Autumn International against New Zealand.
The 27-year-old said that his teammates were drained by the week leading into their Six Nations Grand Slam decider against Wales in March, in which they were demolished 30-3 at the Millennium Stadium.
Robshaw is wary to avoid a similar story when the All Blacks visit Twickenham, although he is confident that the Red Rose will be at full throttle come game time.
"Emotional balance is crucial this week and we've got some good coaches around us who have been in these sort of situations before," PA quotes the Harlequins flanker as saying. "Graham Rowntree has talked about one of his experiences where all week he was pumped up and ready to go, but by the time it got to the game his legs were heavy.
"We potentially did that during the week before we played Wales last season. We maybe got a bit too pumped up early in the week and got too excited, which took it out of us a bit. We need to control that.
"Everyone will want to be speaking about New Zealand and of course what happened last year means the fans have been talking about this game for a while now. But as players we have to keep our cool until we get to Friday, Saturday. I've got no doubt that the boys will be revved up come Saturday afternoon."
England beat the world champions 38-21 last year - the only defeat that Steve Hansen's men have suffered in 33 games.
Michael Penkman
