2 Apr 2010

Grand Slam on again after England back down

2:34 pm on 2 April 2010

The stoush between the New Zealand and English rugby unions over the end of year fixture is over with the All Blacks now set to play England at Twickenham in early November.

The two unions had been at loggerheads over the game, with England wanting an early December kick-off and New Zealand not happy with the All Blacks playing that late in the year.

But the NZRU appears to have got its way, meaning another attempt at the Grand Slam - the ninth time in their history - with Test matches already scheduled against Scotland at Edinburgh, Ireland at Dublin, and Wales at Cardiff.

The All Blacks first won the Grand Slam in 1978 and repeated the feat in 2005 and 2008.