What are you doing in November? Well cancel those plans now because current world champions, New Zealand will be be visiting England for a three game World Cup warm-up tour later this year! The "Black Ferns" will play two internationals against England on Saturday 14th and 21st November, with a midweek match against England A on Tuesday 17th. All games will be in London but exact venues yet to be confirmed.
This will be the New Zealanders first visit to England, apart from the sevens team's exhibition match last year, and their first overseas tour since their visit to Canada for the 2005 Canada Cup.
New Zealand's General Manager Neil Sorensen said the tour would give his players a valuable opportunity to "road-test their planning" ahead of next year's World Cup. Rosie Williams is also quoted as saying: "This is not only a great chance for us to test ourselves on the field against one of the best teams in the world". ["One of", Rosie - who else did you have in mind???].
England manager Gary Street said “It’s fantastic news that New Zealand will be coming over in November. This is great preparation for our World Cup campaign and also gives us a tremendous focal point post the Nations Cup in August. It will be the first time we have played them since the 2006 World Cup Final and my first game in charge against them. Our players are excited to play them and I’m sure we’ll see some excellent games of rugby."
It will be unmissable (though I guess the UK's press and TV will let it sail by) - who can possibly predict the outcome of these games? Mark those dates in your diaries now!
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