Amid the many technical reasons for England's record defeat by South Africa last weekend, which offers little encouragement to believe that they will fare much better against New Zealand at Twickenham tomorrow, Graham Rowntree offered something a little different. “We have to 'man-up'”, Rowntree, the scrum coach, said, leaving little doubt about what that infers.

The primary requirement is one of character, that England's players have to demonstrate they have the mental capacity to shake off the 36-point loss to the Springboks and carry their game to the All Blacks. The second requirement is physical, an aggression in the tackle and at the breakdown that knocks the New Zealanders back in a way that England could not do against either South Africa or Australia.

Rowntree remembers all too well the egos jostling with each other during his days in the England front row, and on the training field with Leicester. He is eager to see the same assertiveness develop in the England squad that has undergone such growing pains this month, to see the new Martin Johnsons, Lawrence Dallaglios and Neil Backs emerging to carry the team from their present trough.

John Wells, for so long Rowntree's playing colleague at Leicester, then the club's coach before he graduated to England as forwards coach, puts it in an even earthier manner. “I knew as a player how to cheat, and cheat well,” he said. “Referees in the Guinness Premiership don't let players learn those arts.

“Last week there were a lot of green shirts lying all over the ball and the referee did nothing about it. We could be nasty, kick them about and get yellow-carded. As much as we'd like to kick hell out of these guys [New Zealand], we can't do that. The new laws take some of the violence out of the game and the way the game is refereed in this country, players don't learn these traits.”

Wells expresses the frustration of a generation allowed to ruck bodies out of the way properly, in the knowledge that those on the receiving end seldom got badly hurt and learnt fast. He also knows that tomorrow, to comply with the law as it now is, his players have to hit rucks and mauls to clear out opposition in a way they have yet to manage and against opponents who include, in Richie McCaw, one of the great contemporary players at the breakdown.

“The hardest thing with this group of players is that they're very young and inexperienced,” Rowntree said. “We had to be honest with them on Monday and Tuesday, but we also have to encourage them, otherwise we will be humped on Saturday.

“We won't go into the game fearing what New Zealand might do to us. This is the last game [of the Investec Challenge Series] in which these guys can give a good account of themselves. Over the years we have built the All Blacks up, there's this whole aura about them, and we can't go into a game worrying about that.”

The de-mystification of New Zealand is something dear to the heart of Brian Smith, the England attack coach, whose Australian background gives him a different take on the neighbours across the Tasman Sea.

“They're a damn good team and on any given day, they win their rugby matches,” Smith said. “But there's no mystery, it's hard yakka, there are no surprises, no secrets. We have a healthy respect for what has been, in the last ten years, the best team in the world. We will get there, it's a matter of how long it takes. There will be setbacks in year one, some more in year two, but we're confident we have the right group of players to give England a great shot at winning Test matches.”

Wells points to the 49-0 defeat suffered by South Africa against Australia in Brisbane in the 2006 Tri-Nations and that, 15 months later, they were world champions. In fairness to the Springboks, that week their players were utterly disconcerted by rumours that Jake White, their coach, might be leaving for a job in England and that such key individuals as John Smit and Percy Montgomery might be facing the end of their careers.

White asserts that the 2004 game at Twickenham, in which England beat South Africa 32-16 and dismantled their pack, is far more relevant. Nine members of the Springbok starting XV that day won the World Cup three years later; these things take time, as did the creation of Clive Woodward's winning World Cup side of 2003, and that is what Wells, Rowntree and their embattled captain, Steve Borthwick, now seek. “I've spoken to people who keep using words like 'patience' and 'courage',” Borthwick said. “Everyone knows we're on a development path, we know we have work to do.”