England hooker Dylan Hartley will draw inspiration from facing New Zealand's haka at Twickenham on Saturday.

But he will save any response until after the kick-off.

Hartley, 23, moved to England from his home town of Rotorua on New Zealand's north island at the age of 16 and admits the haka still makes the hairs bristle on the back of his neck.

Twelve years ago, Richard Cockerill reacted to the challenge by marching over the half-way line and eyeballing Norm Hewitt, leaving team-mate Martin Johnson to whisper: "Cockers, what have you done?"

But Hartley said: "I will stand there and enjoy it like 80,000 other people. Growing up in New Zealand I understand it and I appreciate it.

"It makes the hairs on my neck stand up. It is exciting and it inspires me."

Hartley had a brief taste of playing against the All Blacks 12 months ago and did not receive the kind of verbal shoeing one might expect for a former New Zealand native.

The son of a Kiwi father, Guy, and an English mother, Caroline, Hartley is proud of his roots - but also determined to show those he left behind what kind of a player he has become.

"It is not like I am Riki Flutey, who played his rugby in New Zealand and came to England. I left at 16 years old. I have played all my professional rugby here," he said.

"I am an unknown to them. The All Blacks probably see me as an Englishman, which I am happy with.

"Is it special to be playing against the country of my birth? There is added pressure in that mum and dad will be watching and I have friends who haven't actually seen me play before because I left at such a young age.

"I am a bit nervous about that but otherwise I am pretty excited about it."

Hartley barely remembers the Cockerill incident. He was only 11 at the time and running around the playground idolising the legendary All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu.

Lomu's performance at the 1995 World Cup first persuaded Hartley to pick up a rugby ball and he went on to play in the successful 1st XV at the Rotorua Boys High School.

But it was when he moved to England for a spell at the age of 16, staying with family in Sussex, that Hartley's rugby career suddenly accelerated.

Hartley spent two years at the Worcester academy before moving, on the advice of his now England team-mate Steve Thompson, to join Northampton.

"When I moved over here at 16 I didn't consider playing for England - but things have snowballed since then and got bigger and better," said Hartley.

Life has not always been a smooth ride for Hartley. He missed out on selection for the 2007 World Cup after being given a six-month ban for eye-gouging.

Hartley's competitive fires still rage undimmed, as proven by his spiky performance against Argentina last weekend, but he believes they are now much better directed.

Pumas hooker Mario Ledesma stood up at the first scrum last Saturday but Hartley continued with the engagement and won a free kick.

It was a strong signal he would not be messed around. England will need Hartley to reproduce that same in-your-face attitude against the All Blacks.

"Every week when I play I try and do the same things. It has been noted I do bring enthusiasm to the game and that is nice to hear," he said.

"I play the same game I always play. We've got to try and upset them at the scrum and line-out, they've got an exciting back line and maybe that doesn't function without clean ball.

"Their breakdown work is superb but if you can get stuck into them there, like the set piece, you might be able to upset them and expose them in different areas.

"Just because it is the All Blacks, I am not going to get over-excited. If you go back a couple of years ago, to when I wasn't as focused as a player, that is when you do silly things.

"The captaincy at Northampton has made me a lot more focused as an individual. I have taken on a lot more responsibility."