England head coach Stuart Lancaster accepts the summer tour to New Zealand must be judged on the result of tomorrow’s final Test with either respectability or failure beckoning.

The All Blacks, chasing a record-equalling 17th successive victory, have built an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and are targeting a whitewash at the Waikato Stadium.

If England defy the odds and topple the world champions, they will return home with their pride intact.

But Lancaster also knows that another defeat, whatever the circumstances, will be unacceptable to a squad that arrived in New Zealand with the stated ambition of winning the series.

“The series will be judged ultimately by the scoreline. We desperately want that win and that’s why we need to put in a high quality performance,” Lancaster said.

“We don’t see this third game as any sort of dead rubber whatsoever, it’s a hugely important game for us and New Zealand.

“They want to build momentum heading into the Rugby Championship and we want to finish the season strongly. It would be huge to beat the All Blacks away.

“We’ve been close to doing that in these two games and we want to get that win so that when we play New Zealand at Twickenham in November we’re in a strong position.”

Reassured by a decisive victory in the second Test, even if the 28-27 scoreline suggests otherwise, All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has lobbed a verbal hand grenade into the England camp.

Hansen claims the tourists are racked with doubt over their tactics after discovering at the Forsyth Barr Stadium that they are unable to match the world champions at a high-tempo game.

“They are in a bit of a quandary really because they took us on in Dunedin playing a game of real pace and worked out they couldn’t,” Hansen said.

“So what are they going to do now? I’ve seen Lancaster mention in the paper that maybe they shouldn’t play too much rugby down their end, so maybe they’re going to kick a wee bit more.

“England are a determined bunch so they’ll want to put in another performance they can be proud of, so I don’t think we’ve broken their spirit.

“They’re a group of people who believe in themselves, so they’ll get up again for the last Test.”