All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has warned not to underestimate an England team that has struggled for form over recent months.
New Zealand take on their northern rivals at Twickenham on Sunday morning (NZT) and aren't reading too much into the home side's hard-fought 12-11 win over South Africa last weekend, a game they were probably lucky to win.
England failed to score a try, relying on penalties to move the scoreboard, including Owen Farrell's gamewinner eight minutes from the end.
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In added time, Farrell produced a marginal no-arms tackle that wasn't penalised on the field and his team survived. England had lost their three previous outings in the Six Nations, where they finished fifth, and suffered a 2-1 series loss in South Africa in June.
While the results haven't stacked up for his rivals and Kiwi rugby purists often dismiss England's conservative approach to the game, Hansen isn't falling for the rhetoric.
"I think a lot of people make mistakes about England and are quite critical," he told his first British media conference, after arriving from Japan.
"They play different to what we do, and that doesn't mean they play a better game or a worse game, they just play differently.
"They're a hard team to play against and they showed that on Saturday.
"Early on, they didn't have a lot of ball, but they hung in there and hung in there, and won a game that probably they didn't feel like they played their best. That's the mark of a good side, I think."
Most of the All Blacks' front-line players have been in England for several days, preparing for this week's showdown, while the fringe performers dispatched Japan 69-31 on Saturday.
"They look fresh and feel fresh in their own minds," he said. "They're excited and so they should be.
"It's going to be a big challenge and it's one of those games that you want to be part of."
For some, notably giant lock Brodie Retallick and prop Nepo Laulala, last week's Bledisloe Cup match against Australia in Yokohama was their first hit-out in quite a while.
Retallick injured a shoulder against Argentina in September, while Laulala broke his forearm early in the Super Rugby competition. Both were sucking in big breaths after their stints agains the Wallabies.
"They're not going to be 100 percent, are they, but they'll be good enough," insisted Hansen.
"Retallick's got a big motor and props these days only play about 40 minutes each, so they don't have to be as fit as everybody else, do they?
"I can't say they're 100 percent match fit, because they've only played one game."
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