Lydia Thompson puts in an excellent tackle on Renee Holmes to quell what might have been another dangerous New Zealand run.

Thompson has form when it comes to performing against New Zealand. She scored two tries in the 2017 World Cup final so a good person for England to have around today.

New Zealand's Aleisha Pearl Nelson goes down injury and it gives both sides a chance to catch their breath. It's been a rocket start.

The prop gets back up and we're off again as the Black Ferns keep hold of a line-out just outside England's 22.

Ouch. Zoe Harrison kicks to touch and New Zealand are likely to make England pay.

Again the Black Ferns are attacking on the 22. This is usually what the Red Roses do to other sides. They haven't had to deal with an attacking barrage like this much over the last two years.

The line-out is good but New Zealand are straight back at England.

Wing Ayesha Leti-l'iga proves the injured Portia Woodman is not needed as she scythes through defenders. It's a close call, but England manage to recover and the clearing kick puts the Black Ferns back outside the 22.

We have our first scrum of the game. England's new front row gets their first chance to prove themselves, but New Zealand get the ball out before we have a chance to see much.

The Black Ferns kick into England's 22 and the Red Roses have an important line-out.

What a clearance!

New Zealand regain possession, clear their lines and the bobbling kick has England wing Lydia Thompson all over the place. It eventually bounces into touch out of the Red Rose's grasp.

Now it's the Black Ferns' chance to attack.

'Heeeeave' comes the cry of the crowd as it looks like a Hannah Botterman-led maul has taken England over the tryline. But crucially, they haven't got the ball!

Instead, it's in a ruck about 5m from the line. The Red Roses are close as they kick to the corner.

An absolutely huge hit by Sarah Hunter to kick things off. A collective 'oo' comes from the Sandy Park crowd as the captain leads by example to regain possession for her side.

Here we go then.

Zoe Harrison loops a kick high into the air to get things under way.

New Zealand's first Haka ahead of an international game for two years. That was special. They end it advancing towards England - pretty intimidating as you'd expect.

When it's over, the Red Roses respond by immediately going into a huddle.

It's go time.

Anthems out of the way. Time for the Haka...

Injured England centre Emily Scarratt told BBC Radio 5 Live there is "a seriously fierce rivalry" between England and New Zealand.

The Red Roses will host the Black Ferns again next Sunday, with that one played at Northampton's Franklin's Gardens.

With holders New Zealand hosting the World Cup next year, there is even more riding on these next two games than usual.

Simon Middleton's side have already proved themselves in the northern hemisphere with three Six Nations wins in a row but now we'll see how they stack up against their closest rivals to the world title.

"I'm really excited to see what both sides have got," said Scarratt. "It is a big 12 months coming up in women's rugby."

Image source, Getty Images

Brian Moore
Former England hooker on BBC Two

World number one v world number two - it doesn't get any bigger.

The conditions have got a bit better but there is a wind here and England will play against that, so they will need a good start.

We just want the occasion to match all the hype.

New Zealand are out first, but all the cheers are saved for England who sprint out into the Exeter breeze.

First we'll have a moment to mark rugby against racism, then a moment of silence to remember Sean Wainui.

Shaunagh Brown
England prop

If you have never watched women's rugby before, now is the time to tune in. This is the next level.

Even people who do not know anything about rugby know New Zealand are fantastic at it.

We want people to watch this huge physical battle. The technical and tactical game will be on show, but there will also be big hits, exciting runs and massive hand-offs.

People who are watching rugby for the first time may not understand everything, but what they will see is these huge tackles or someone sprinting the length of a pitch because they got an intercept.

Those are the things that will be on show this weekend and next.

Shaunagh Brown: England prop and women's rugby hype woman. You heard her, get BBC Two on.

Image source, Getty Images

England have struggled without Emily Scarratt in the past.

Last November, the Red Roses were losing to France until Scarratt and a host of other experienced internationals took to the field and the centre eventually sealed victory with the last kick of the game.

England head coach Middleton said last month that he had not yet "found a solution" to playing without Scarratt and we will see today whether or not that has changed.

Holly Aitchison is the chosen answer for now, with Lagi Tuima ready to fight for her place off the bench.

"I would love to see somebody come through and play really well in that shirt [13] for the next four Tests," Scarratt said.

"If and when I'm back, I want serious competition and I want to have to fight to get it back. I don't want things to be easy."

England head coach Simon Middleton on the absence of Emily Scarratt, speaking on BBC Two: "Every time you play the Black Ferns you relish it. We've got a lot of debutants but they've been in the squad a long time.

"You have to have a situation where no one player is bigger than the side. Emily Scarratt is hard to replace but we have gone a long way to replacing some big players.

"We have a good leadership group and fantastic experience on the field but it's a good learning curve for the inexperienced players."

"Before I had my daughter I was pretty sure what my 'why' was and what got me up in the morning.

"But now that 'why' is gone and a new one sits in front of me and gets me up every morning. It's a why that is probably deeper than anything I've ever had.

"If what I'm doing positively impacts my girl in 10, 20, 30 years' time, everything I'm doing now to lead to that is 100% worth it."

Earlier this week, New Zealand captain Les Elder spoke to BBC Sport's Sara Orchard about whether she made the right choice returning to rugby so quickly after childbirth and the support she has received in the national side.

Have a read.

England head back into the dressing room to a huge cheer from Sandy Park. It's a sell-out!

As if this weren't already a big enough game, the winner of this one will come away with the world number one tag.

A draw would also see England just hold on to top spot.

But should the Black Ferns win, they will return to the top of the world rankings for the first time since November 2020.

Image source, Getty Images