By John Mehaffey

A capacity Twickenham crowd of 82,000 will watch rugby union’s greatest entertainers try to repair their reputation as big-match ‘chokers‘ on Sunday.

The fans will thrill to the haka, New Zealand’s dramatic pre-match war dance. But as they settle into their seats, they will know also that England, despite losing their last five tests, are reigning world champions while the All Blacks have not won the World Cup since 1987.

Those who watched the consecutive semi-finals when New Zealand were outwitted by France and outmuscled by Australia could be forgiven for wondering if their reputation was now more myth than reality. The All Blacks have been the world's supreme entertainers since the game went professional in 1995. But, unlike their football counterparts Brazil, they have consistently failed to turn style into success when it matters most.

The first chance for redemption after England brought the World Cup to Europe for the first time in 2003 came last year when they crushed the British and Irish Lions. They followed up with a grand slam of victories over Wales, Ireland, England and Scotland on successive weekends, fielding entirely different teams for the first two matches.

Before the Scotland match, New Zealand coach Graham Henry said beating the Lions had been his first priority. To general astonishment he then said the Grand Slam had been third on his list. This month's European tour, featuring two tests in France - where the World Cup will be staged next year - was the second.

Henry's goal has been to win tests while building a squad of versatile, hardened players to take the William Webb Ellis trophy back to New Zealand. After Sunday's match, the All Blacks have only six days before they meet France in the first of two tests before returning to Britain to play Wales. With this in mind, at least four first-choice players have been rested on Sunday, even though England provided by far their sternest opposition last year, losing by only four points after a bruising forward battle.

Sunday's absentees include fly-half Dan Carter, widely considered the best all-round player in the world - though he may yet play if Nick Evans fails to recover from a hamstring injury. Others in the 32-strong squad will be given a chance against France in the first test at Lyon, with the strongest combination taking the field at Paris’s Stade de France the following week.

"We have a dual role, to win tests and develop players," Henry said this week. "We've probably achieved both. That's the nature of the beast in New Zealand. You have to win to survive, you just can't lie down and lose a few games."

Now the pressure is on captain Richie McCaw, who will attempt next year to deliver the ultimate prize which eluded predecessors Gary Whetton, Sean Fitzpatrick, Taine Randell and Reuben Thorne. On Thursday, McCaw was asked if the current All Blacks could finally put their reputation as big-match "chokers" behind them. He chose not to answer the question directly but to point instead to the rotation strategy.

"A lot of these guys have been around for quite a while and have experienced these sorts of things," he said. "These experiences are going to help when we get to the real pressure situations - huge grounds, huge atmosphere, a fair bit of noise. I think the guys have matured a hell of a lot, there's a lot of caps among the lads. A lot of guys have played a lot of rugby. But I guess until you get to these situations where it really counts, you won't know."