Fly-half Owen Farrell has revealed that England are determined to reach the standard set by Saturday's opponents New Zealand and become the best team in the world.
The world champion All Blacks return to Twickenham at the weekend for the third and final autumn international of the break, and are looking to avenge their shock 38-21 defeat to the Red Rose last December.
However, Farrell sees no reason as to why England cannot beat New Zealand for the second time in a row and has outlined his country's desire to overtake their opponents' status in the game.
"New Zealand are the benchmark and we want to get to where they are," Farrell told reporters. "They have been setting the standard for a long time. We have to make sure if we want to be up there we do the same.
"What happened against them last year is irrelevant. We have to make sure we are a team getting better. It's all about the performance. If that's right then the result will look after itself.
"We'll believe in ourselves on Saturday. All we did last year was believe in ourselves. I don't see why it would be any different this year. We've made massive strides in the matches against Australia and Argentina, albeit there have been some frustrating points as well."
England recovered to beat Australia 20-13 earlier this month before earning a 31-12 win over Argentina on Saturday.
Matt Cotton
