Summer Tour Second Test Review - New Zealand 28 - 27 England

There’s always a slight issue when you play the All Blacks in a Test Series.  If you don’t win the first time round, there’s not a whole lot of likelihood that you’re going to be able to do it later on.  It’s like trying to pinch toys off a grumpy toddler (not something I do particularly often) – unless you get what you want the first time around, they’ll probably get very wound up and have a tantrum that you even dared to attempt the toy theft in the first place.  Except when the All Blacks have a tantrum, they don’t roll around on the floor screaming and wiping snot on their sleeves, they respond with brutal physicality and lightening backs play – ‘Total Rugby’ that is impossible to resist.  You won’t get another chance to grab that win again.

In hindsight, that is arguably the worst analogy I’ve ever done – but hey, the principal still stands.  England’s best opportunity for a win in New Zealand was, in my eyes, last weekend, despite the lack of so many first choice players.  The problem with the defeat was that the visitors pushed their hosts all the way – they had the insolence to put the invincible aura of this current crop of All Blacks under scrutiny.  They certainly weren’t happy about this, and resolved in the build up to Saturday’s game in Dunedin to make sure that England couldn’t come close again, especially now the reinforcements had arrived.

There was no doubt that the All Blacks were pumped – possibly too pumped.  Two quick penalties from the kick off and the subsequent lineout conceded for offside gave Owen Farrell a relatively straight forward 3 points after two minutes, and then another offside penalty straight from the restart forced referee Jaco Peyper to administer his first ticking off of the afternoon to Richie McCaw.  The All Blacks hadn’t seen the ball at all in the opening exchanges, and they were forced to wait even longer as Joe Launchbury charged down an Aaron Smith kick to launch an England attack which took Rob Webber inches from the line.  Strong running from Luther Burrell and some fizzing passes from Billy Twelvetrees kept the move going, but some strong counter rucking by the hosts turned the ball over to provide some light relief.  I say, light, because Ma’a Nonu could only make 15 metres with the kick and from that lineout, England finally showed the clinical edge that had been missing last week.  Danny Care scooted off the back of the maul, fed Marlande Yarde, and the London Irish winger powered through McCaw to touch down for a superb try.  Farrell converted, and England had a perfect start and a 10 point lead.

That’s certainly one way to irritate the All Blacks.  They surged back into England territory from the restart, with Nonu bashing through the midfield to generate front foot ball and force the penalty, which Aaron Cruden slotted to get the home side on the board.  It was quickly becoming apparent that this was going to be a ding-dong battle and, after Mike Brown, Geoff Parling and Ben Morgan all made decent carries, the Kiwis came charging back to force another three point opportunity for Cruden, but the Chiefs playmaker screwed the attempt well wide.  Soon Farrell missed his own attempt, though, after Nonu had created an opening for Julian Savea by taking a man out off the ball – and he was greeted by a frankly pathetic chorus of derisory boos from the Dunedin crowd for his troubles.

This match was proving to be frantic, mistake-ridden but utterly compelling, with both sides beginning to make serious inroads, without finding that killer touch.  For England, Yarde was looking dangerous, but the big name Kiwi backline – Savea, Nonu, Conrad Smith and Ben Smith – were starting to find gaps, in particular – and worryingly – through the channels around Farrell and Burrell.  Towards the end of the half they started to hammer away at the England line, but a loose pass from Corey Jane was picked up by Manu Tuilagi – who had covered well but not been involved at all in attack – and the big centre-cum-winger set off towards the line.  For 30 metres, Tuilagi looked for all the world that he was going to make it, but he’s not really designed for 95 metre sprints.  Ben Smith, however, is, and the full back charged across to make a majestic cover tackle 7 metres out, spring to his feet, and then steal the ball.  It was, without exaggeration, the best piece of defensive play I have seen for years, but England were left ruing the fact that Brown was not able to provide support as Tuilagi was looking for it, having taken a heavy knock moments before.  Then, 30 seconds later on the cusp of half time, Cruden slotted a scrum penalty to highlight a potentially monumental shift in momentum at the break.  England led 10 – 6, but that felt a hell of a lot tighter than a 15 or 17 point to 3 score would have done if Tuilagi had made it at the end of the half.

It had been a stunning half of rugby, one that underlined England’s credentials not only as a serious player on the world stage, but also as a genuine attacking threat.  And they started with promise as well, with Chris Robshaw making inroads into Kiwi territory and offloading nicely, but Twelvetrees got carried away with the excitement and threw a miracle ball which allowed the All Blacks to counter dangerously.  They swung the ball left, where England had only forwards, and Julian Savea gassed his way down the wing, drew the last man, and put Ben Smith in for a deserved try.  Cruden converted, and the All Blacks had now scored 13 unanswered points to take the lead for the first time.

Farrell responded immediately with another penalty, but there was little doubt that we were now witnessing the All Blacks hitting the gears that take their intensity to a level no side in the world can live with.  Aaron Smith made good yards down the blindside, before the ball was worked left, where Nonu left Burrell trailing in his wake to draw Tuilagi and put Savea in for his side’s second try.  It was hard not to applaud the intoxicating mix of ferocity and grace that is indicative of the All Blacks at their best.  Cruden missed the conversion – his last act of the game before being substituted for Beauden Barrett – but the men in white were now well and truly on the ropes.

Wave after wave of black attack swarmed over the English defence, and only a forward pass and a missed kick from Barrett prevented the scoreline from ticking on.  It was a temporary respite though,  as Farrell was shown a yellow card for not rolling away close to the line (he understandably thought he was involved in a maul), Barrett knocked a second attempted penalty, and then Conrad Smith ghosted through a gap created by Ben Smith to feed Nonu, who stepped past Yarde and the disappointing Burrell to crash over for a score.  28 – 13, game over – and you felt that this could get very, very messy, especially with 25 minutes still to play.

But England once again showed that they are not here to just make up the numbers, and clawed their way back despite the game being effectively dead.  The backline now had far more balance in it as Tuilagi partnered Twelvetrees, and it was a fizzing pass from the Gloucester man that put Brown into space to wriggle his way over the line.  The TMO wasn’t conclusive on whether the full back had scored, but the visitors got the benefit of the doubt to lend some respectability to the scoreline. 

The All Blacks went forward once again, with McCaw being held up over the line after a superb break by Barrett, but it was England who had the last word – with substitute Ben Youngs and Yarde combining well to put Tuilagi into space, and the Leicester man reminded us all why he is the best centre in England by beating two players and offloading superbly to Brown, who fed another substitute, Chris Ashton, for the try.

In the end, there was just 1 point in it, with the final score 28 – 27 to the hosts.   But the phrase ‘one point drubbing’ has been coined by the media – and rightly so.  England were actually marginally the better team for 55 of the 80 minutes, but for 25 minutes the All Blacks were on another level, another planet, at that special point where no team can touch them.  England know they cannot allow their hosts to get into that mood again in the Third Test.  They have one last shot at redemption, at coming away with a win – but based on that 25 minutes we saw in Dudedin, that’s going to be hard to come by.

 

New Zealand Player Ratings

Ben Smith – 10 – I don’t often bring out double figures, but he was magnificent in attack and that tackle and steal on Tuilagi ranks as one of the all-time great defensive plays.  Man of the match.

Corey Jane – 5 – Worryingly invisible even when the All Blacks are purring.  Needs some form.

Conrad Smith – 8 – Classy and elusive.  Great line to set up Nonu’s try as well, and dealt with Burrell with ease.

Ma’a Nonu – 8 – What an improvement.  Gave the England backs nightmares with his running and finished a great try as well as setting up one more.

Julian Savea – 7 – Good finish and some strong carries too, but could have been involved a little more at times.

Aaron Cruden – 6 – Still not in top form, but helped his side find top gear after the half-time break.

Aaron Smith – 7 – Struggled with his kicking early on, but improved after the break and probed the fringes expertly.

Tony Woodcock – 7 – Part of a much improved scrum effort, and won a couple of important penalties.

Dane Coles – 6 – An improvement on last week.  Ran a solid lineout and got around the park too.

Owen Franks – 7 – Like Woodcock, had much more joy in the scrums this week and looked assured on the ball whenever he carried.

Brodie Retallick – 8 – Bruisingly physical and athletic, he forced many a turnover with some fierce hits.  Needs to watch his penalty count though.

Sam Whitelock – 8 – The silent assassin.  Ferocious in the rucks, he was monumental in defence throughout the game and was a reliable source of lineout ball too.

Liam Messam – 7 – Quite game from the blindside but still effective.  Got through a lot of dirty work.

Richie McCaw – 6 – Was having a shocker in the first half with penalties and missed tackles galore.  Great second half display saw him dramatically improve, though, and he nearly bundled over for a try late on.

Jerome Kaino – 9 – An unsung hero.  His physicality set the tone for the All Blacks resurgence and he answered critics of his carrying game with a couple of bulldozing runs.

Subs

Beauden Barrett purred in the 10 role when he came on, whilst Victor Vito and TJ Peranara also caught the eye.

 

England Player Ratings

Mike Brown – 7 – Still not at his best, and could have done more to keep up with Tuilagi in the first half.  A smart finish and great hands for an assist at the end, however.

Manu Tuilagi – 7 – Covered well in defence but just not seen in attack.  You can’t blame him though for being shoved out on the wing – and whenever he did get the ball he still looked dangerous.  Superb work to set up Ashton’s score and he must return to centre next week.

Luther Burrell – 4 – I thought he was OK on first viewing, but after a promising start he faded badly, falling off 50% of his tackles and running in far too upright to sap out momentum of England’s attack.

Billy Twelvetrees – 4 – Another man to have a difficult day.  Some fizzing passes added width to England’s attack but too often he made basic mistakes with the ball in hand and from the boot.

Marland Yarde – 7 – His best display.  Busy off his wing, he still made mistakes but was eager to make up for them.  Great work for his try and a lovely looped pass set up Ashton’s score.

Owen Farrell – 5 – I do wonder if he was fully fit.  He seemed to miss far more tackles than normal and, although his kicking game was in good nick, he didn’t seem as sharp as he has done this season.

Danny Care – 5 – Another man who had a surprisingly poor game.  Started smartly but sliced kicks and needless handling errors cost his side dearly in attacking momentum.

Joe Marler – 6 – Didn’t get the dominance he wanted in the scrum and couldn’t get involved as much as usual in attack.

Rob Webber – 7 – He’s really won me over.  The lineout was decent but his workrate in the loose caught the eye the most – no wonder he was shattered after 50 minutes.

David Wilson – 6 – Less handling howlers and he even managed to get a kick in there, which wins him a lot of respect.  Scrummaging was OK, but no dominance this week.

Joe Launchbury – 6 – A great charge down and break early on, but he looks shattered to me.  Lacking his usual zip at the breakdown and in the tackle.

Geoff Parling – 8 – England’s best player.  He was monumental in the first half and made more tackles than any of his teammates (a staggering 18).  A leader in the pack as well.

Tom Wood – 5 – Couldn’t get himself into the game as much as he would have liked.  Started well but his influence waned as the game went on.

Chris Robshaw – 7 – A warrior as always and made some hard yards, but couldn’t do anything to stem the flow of black shirts in second period.

Ben Morgan – 6 – Not able to have the impact that he did last week.  He was solid, but that was disappointing compared to his explosive display last week.

Subs

Nobody could make a game changing impact, but Courtney Lawes and Billy Vunipola added good impetus, whilst Matt Mullan and Kieran Brookes added power to the scrum.