England v New Zealand: All Blacks scrum-half Aaron Smith says 'there is no better test'

New Zealand defeated Scotland 31-23 at Murrayfield, on the opening match of the Autumn Internationals

All Blacks great Aaron Smith says "there is no better test" than facing England at Twickenham, adding it is a fixture that "gets the blood going".

The two sides meet on Saturday for only the third time in eight years.

And Smith feels playing England on their home turf is one of the biggest challenges in rugby.

"I woke up on Sunday morning thinking, this is the week, this is where you want to be," the scrum-half said.

"There's no better Test than playing England at Twickenham," added Smith.

England have only faced the All Blacks twice during head coach Eddie Jones' seven-year tenure - in that period they have taken on Australia 11 times - with a narrow loss in 2018 followed by a famous win in the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final.

While Smith says 2022 has been an altogether tougher experience for the All Blacks - with the side losing four times this year - he admits memories of that World Cup defeat still linger.

"Probably more of a let-down that day for us was not showing up," added the 33-year-old.

"Everyone talks about how England dominated us, but when you don't throw a punch and don't find a way to get back into the game it's pretty gutting.

"I wouldn't say that semi-final was all about how good they played, they just had a really good plan and shocked us early and we couldn't get out of it.

"For some of us in that group there is scar tissue, but this year has been pretty tough as an All Black with some of the turmoil and off-field stuff and the media and everything. It's probably been worse than that semi-final loss."

'Facing All Blacks was a dream'

While the experienced Smith, who has 113 caps, has faced England seven times since his debut in 2012, Jonny Hill is preparing for his first clash with the All Blacks.

"Growing up watching England against the All Blacks, it's something I have always dreamt of doing," the Sale lock told BBC 5 live.

"To stand in front of that Haka on Saturday evening will be something special for me and I can't wait to get into it.

"There's a common correlation to beating the All Blacks; you have to go after them. If you stand off them and let them do their thing, they will punish you for it.

"So we are going to have to go after them."