Geraghty relishing All Blacks challenge

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Shane Geraghty is convinced England can transform their fortunes in the space of a week and pull off what many fans would view as an improbable victory over New Zealand on Saturday.

England head into the game on the back of a 16-9 victory over Argentina but a turgid performance that was devoid of pace and creativity.

There appears to be a crisis of confidence in the camp with players who are livewires in the Guinness Premiership - the likes of Danny Care and Paul Hodgson - playing highly conservative rugby.

But Geraghty's view of rugby is directly at odds with that philosophy. He is not a player willing to die wondering and if England are to turn the corner then he is likely to be a key figure.

The Northampton fly-half relishes playing the brand of bold, attacking rugby that Brian Ashton taught him in the RFU's academy.

And Geraghty refuses to be intimidated, either by England's predicament or the arrival of New Zealand to Twickenham.

"I don't see why we can't win," said Geraghty.

"We are not scared of the All Blacks. I'm really looking forward to it. I've dreamed about playing against the All Blacks since I was a kid.

"It's a big ask, facing the haka in the last Test of the series but we have had two games now and improved on our performance against Australia - and now we have nothing to lose against the All Blacks.

"Against Argentina we eradicated some of the errors we made against Australia. In the second half I think we looked quite dangerous and we are still getting used to how each of the backs play.

"We will be looking to build on that performance against an All Blacks team that are at the end of a long season."

The problem is that England have talked a good game for the best part of the last three weeks but so far have failed to deliver.

Johnson admitted he was "fed up" of demanding more from his side - but he warned the players that without making major improvements then the All Blacks will rip England to shreds.

In the corresponding fixture 12 months ago, New Zealand beat England 32-6 to claim their heaviest victory at Twickenham.

Former England captain Will Carling has called for Johnson to make changes to his coaching team because he believes the players have no faith or understanding in what they are being asked to do.

"My concern is there isn't a gameplan the players understand or believe in - it is one or the other. There needs to be more variety in England's attacking play," said Carling.

"Throwing the ball to one guy and asking him to run hard doesn't work at international level and that is about England's limit at the moment.

"I think Martin is the right guy and should stay but at the moment I am not convinced Martin Johnson has the best coaching team that is available to England.