Skipper Richie McCaw celebrates his second half try with Israel Dagg and Conrad Smith

by Paul Cook –

New Zealand have outgunned England yet again to run out 24-21 winners at a rain soaked Twickenham last night. Very much a game of two halves, England had their chances in the opening stanza to build a healthy lead but paid for their inaccuracy as the All Blacks dominated the second forty, pinning their hosts inside their own half to cross twice for a 10pt lead before England rallied with a late score that, in truth, flattered them.

Billed by some pundits as a potential rehearsal for next year’s World Cup Final at the same venue, the match illustrated just how much farther England still need to travel in the next 10 months if they are to pose a serious threat to New Zealand’s chances of retaining their crown.

Having failed to capitalise on a blistering start, they fell prey to some previous demons with poor execution and discipline letting New Zealand off the hook and an ineffective kicking game seeing them unable to relieve the increasing pressure exerted upon them by a team well versed in grinding out the tough ones when it really matters.

If Twickenham had turned up in good voice, the historical home of rugby was positively humming after only three minutes when Jonny May opened the scoring with a stunning solo effort. Picking the ball up just over halfway, the Gloucester flyer got on the outside of Conrad Smith before putting a step on Israel Dagg and outpacing him to the line to give England just the start they were looking to feed off.

Lightning Start: Jonny May’s stunning solo effort got England off to a perfect start

They almost had another a couple of minutes later. A box kick from Danny Care took a fortuitous bounce into the arms of the onrushing May and if he’d seen Owen Farrell off his shoulder and managed to offload, England would have led 12-0.

Another opportunity went begging after 10 minutes, successive phases applying immense pressure to the New Zealand line but when the ball was sent wide and centre Kyle Eastmond picked out Mike Brown with a sublime arrow of a cut-out pass, the normally reliable fullback dropped it cold with the corner in sight.

Having started with an unaccustomed rustiness, you knew the All Blacks wouldn’t be down for long and in a perfect example of exactly why they are so hard to overcome unless you take each and every chance against them, they scored with their first visit into England’s half.

Ben Smith got them going forward, plucking a high ball from the grasp of May to kickstart a period of phase play that saw almost every player get a touch as they went down one flank, straightened and switched to the other. Neat hands as ever from Kieran Read released Jerome Kaino and when he was held up a couple of metres short, Aaron Cruden was on hand to crash over and level the scoreboard.

England regrouped and retook the lead through a Farrell penalty on 15 minutes and the young flyhalf added three more at the end of the first quarter as the home side continued to take the game to their lofty opponents.

A needless late shot from Dylan Hartley gave Cruden the chance to reduce the deficit 24 minutes in and England suffered another blow when the influential Courtney Lawes went for a concussion assessment and failed to return after receiving a couple of head knocks in short succession.

New Zealand began to find their rhythm as the half hour approached, Kaino’s aggressive ball carrying getting them on the front foot and Sonny Bill Williams starting to exert his influence on proceedings with his destructive combination of power, pace and offloading skills.

They were forced to defend again when England put a few dangerous phases together that ended with a failed drop goal attempt from Farrell but when the home side were a little too eager at the breakdown from an All Black attack five minutes before the break, Cruden didn’t hesitate to punish and make it 11-apiece.

However, a half in which England had thrown plenty of shots against an All Black side playing a long way from top gear did end with the Red Rose in front, referee Nigel Owens pinging Dane Coles for going off his feet in front of the posts and Farrell stepping up to re-establish a 3pt advantage as both sides trudged off for a well earned sabbatical from hostilities.

Sonny Bill Williams saw plenty of ball in his second international since returning from rugby league

Cruden passed up the opportunity to achieve parity on the scoreboard within two minutes of the restart, the flyhalf striking the post, his seventh failure in his last 13 attempts. No matter, three minutes later they had the lead for the first time.

A superb Aaron Smith pass took replacement lock George Kruis out of the game and opened up a gap for Owen Franks to exploit. When the bustling prop’s progress was halted, too many England players had been sucked into the chase and a couple of passes wide later, captain Richie McCaw was over for his 25th try in his 135th test match.

The All Blacks thought they were in again soon after, a quick-thinking dive from George Whitelock as England dallied with ball at the back of the ruck on their own goal line, saw the lock certain that he had touched the ball down. But the TMO and referee agreed that he had in fact knocked the ball forward in the process of trying to ground it.

Now persistently penned back inside their 22, England needed a break as the black wave threatened to overcome them and they were given an olive branch when Coles was sent to the bin for kicking out in retaliation at the admittedly illegal attentions of his opposite no., Dylan Hartley.

Drowned But Not Out: England captain Chris Robshaw has plenty to digest ahead of next week’s clash with South Africa

As torrential rain began to fall in West London making handling a far from rudimentary expectation, England looked to their bench to turn around the weight of momentum held by the visitors. But with a man advantage, they could still only muster 14% possession and New Zealand had a chance to turn the screw when the home side were pinged for offside. However, replacement Beauden Barrett suffered from the same kicking yips as his predecessor to push the ball wide.

Barrett restored his reputation with a successful penalty kick in the 65th minute to make it 19-14 after Tom Wood was penalised for an illegal strip on his own goal line. With a quarter of an hour remaining, England’s ill discipline and poor execution was costing them dearly.

New Zealand kept coming and after battering the England line with relentless pressure, Charlie Faumuina pounced from two metres to twist the knife and effectively seal the result. Another Barrett miss from the conversion left the door still slightly ajar and England can be thankful for the errant radar of the All Blacks kickers – that was now 15pts that had gone astray off the boot.

As a result, there was room for a potential twist in the tail when England mustered some rare pressure in the dying throes of the game, a suddenly dominant scrum forcing New Zealand back twice before a third drive forced a collapse and a penalty try. George Ford drop kicked the conversion leaving just enough time for the restart but hopes of a miraculous comeback were scuppered when Chris Robshaw knocked on trying to build one final assault.

Three points adrift on the day, a fifth loss in succession to the All Blacks indicates England are still seemingly some way behind the reigning world champions a year out from a home World Cup in which they are expected to go far. They have been served notice of what is required.

New Zealand 24 (Aaron Cruden, Richie McCaw, Charlie Faumuina tries; Aaron Cruden 2 pens, Beauden Barrett pen) defeated England 21 (Jonny May, Penalty Try tries; Owen Farrell 3 pens, George Ford con) Crowd: 82,223