Sheridan shows some respect

There's no lack of respect when England scrum weapon Andrew Sheridan talks about the All Blacks' new front row ahead of the first Test between the two sides in Auckland on Saturday.

There's no lack of respect when England scrum weapon Andrew Sheridan talks about the All Blacks' new front row ahead of the first Test between the two sides in Auckland on Saturday.

Sheridan will be marking 57-Test veteran Greg Somerville who was brought in for the injured John Afoa after the Blues prop limped out of the 21-11 win over Ireland in Wellington last weekend.

“I've never played against him (Somerville), but he's very experienced and an effective scrummager,” Sheridan told NZPA.

“I've been watching clips of him playing so I know it's going to be a difficult challenge.”

Sheridan also complemented loosehead Neemia Tialata in being able to switch to tighthead when Afoa went off against the Irish.

“I've always said their scrum works very effectively as an eight,” said Sheridan.

“It's not so much an individual thing.”

The 28-year-old dismissed the suggestion that the 2008 All Blacks didn't have the same intimidating character as their predecessors because of the player drain.

“They always seem to be able to bring in players of equal quality,” said the quietly-spoken prop.

“Quite often they have Probables-Possibles matches and it's the Possibles who sometimes win so it shows the strength in depth.”

Standing at 1.93m and carrying a 122kg frame, the qualified bricklayer is credited with dismantling Australia's scrum in last year's World Cup quarter-final – a thriller England won 12-10 in Marseille.

England went on to the final, going down 15-6 to South Africa.

Remarkably, Sheridan is the only survivor from that Paris match in the England starting XV that will run on at Eden Park this weekend.

The loosehead prop admitted it wasn't something he was aware of until caretaker manager Rob Andrew had mentioned it.

“I suppose a lot of has happened since then, a lot of games,” he said.

“That's the way it is and the guys who come through have all had good seasons and deserve to be here.”

Sheridan, who has 24 caps, is on his third tour of New Zealand, his previous trips being with then world champions England in 2004 and the British and Irish Lions in 2005.

He sat out the Tests both times, his two England caps against the All Blacks being in defeats at Twickenham in 2005 and 2006.

“I haven't got one yet so it would be nice,” he said of a win over New Zealand.

“It's a difficult place to come and play and we know we need to be at the top of our game if we're going to stand a chance of winning.”

While last year's World Cup still casts a dark cloud over New Zealand rugby, Sheridan has got over England's near-miss at the tournament.

Part of the reason was England already had a Six Nations campaign to occur their minds.

But even in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup, defeat in the final had been tempered by the way they had engineered a huge change in fortunes after the Springboks had whitewashed them 36-0 in pool play.

“I don't think we could have done any more,” said Sheridan.

“I think if we had been red hot favourites, the disappointment would have been more.”

Meanwhile, Somerville is relishing his first start against Sheridan.

Injuries have consigned Somerville to only two Tests over the last 18 months, while this will be his second against the English, and first fronting-up to Sheridan.

Somerville, known as Yoda to his team-mates, hasn't taken any note of the media hype about Sheridan.

“I haven't really read a lot of British media but I've watched him play and I've taken note of a few things,” said Somerville.

“He's built up as a powerful scrummager. He's one of those guys that if you let him get into a good position and under you, you can't stop him. He's pretty good around the track as well.”

Somerville acknowledged that although Sheridan is as strong as any international prop, he is still relatively inexperienced.

“As a front rower you can go good one week and not the next. What's happened in the past doesn't count for a hell of a lot,” Somerville said.

“He's pretty young in the learning of propping and scrummaging. But he's got better … they were one of the best scrums in the World Cup last year.”