With the All Blacks now thawed out following their first-up test win over Ireland in the cold and wet of Wellington, the intensity has lifted a level ahead of Saturday's clash with England.

And coach Graham Henry has clearly sign-posted how important gaining victory over the beaten World Cup finalists is in his selections, making the bare minimum of changes for the pending clash at Eden Park.

In comes Greg Somerville for the injured John Afoa.

The confrontational forward play of Sione Lauaki has been preferred over Adam Thomson on the reserves bench, a signal of what awaits the All Blacks against the sizeable England pack.

Henry revealed his hand at a press conference in central Auckland on Tuesday afternoon.

And it was unmistakable that the stakes have gone up another level.

Not that the All Blacks coaching trio looked to duck-shove any of the tougher questions though.

That included All Black forwards coach Steve Hansen revealing one of the key reasons behind the side's new-look loose forward trio.

Hansen spoke of how one of the motivating factors was to help extend All Black captain Richie McCaw's career.

Having another option such as Rodney So'oialo to help McCaw out from the outset of the breakdown does have merit.

And it showed on Saturday against Ireland that McCaw was able to offer more as a ball carrier in the All Black jersey, continuing his recent strong form for the Crusaders.

The most telling aspect of the session were the minor changes that Henry has made to the line-up.

All Black fans, and the players in some cases begrudgingly, have gotten used to Henry, Hansen and Wayne Smith making vast changes to test teams over the past four and a half years.

It has been explained those changes were built around ensuring the best team was selected to take on respective oppositions and, in the two years leading up to last year's World Cup, to try and build up squad depth.

Henry openly acknowledged that depth wasn't on hand at present to make more changes than he did, and still field a team best-suited to beat England.

While the England team that will line-up against the All Blacks on Saturday has little resemblance to their losing World Cup final starting 15, there is no mistaking what awaits on Saturday night will be a massive challenge.

And regardless of what other players he could have chosen from this weekend, it is great to see a settled look in the All Blacks for the start of the new international season.

Building combinations, both in the pack and the backline, is one of the priorities in the three-test build-up to the Tri-nations.

It's a no-brainer but the best way to build combinations is to spend more time on the paddock together.

What do you think of the All Black squad to play England?

And are you too in agreement over just the two changes in the 22-man squad?

Meanwhile, across the Tasman Robbie Deans will launch his Wallabies coaching career against Ireland in Melbourne.

With the noises coming out of the Wallaby camp, the odds are stacked against over-rated Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll being able to end his lengthy career of under-achieving down under.