TWICKENHAM — George Ford came within a few centimetres of sealing a famous Twickenham victory over New Zealand but it was Damian McKenzie’s inch-perfect conversion that broke English hearts and completed a 24-22 win.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s fifth try in just his seventh international looked to have given England victory in a tense second half, but Mark Tele’a’s 76th-minute try in the corner, converted by McKenzie, edged the All Blacks 24-22 ahead.
Replacement Ford’s first chance to win it for England was from the kicking tee but his long-range penalty struck the right post.
New Zealand, now down to 14 men, failed to gather the rebound though and the fly-half had a chance for a reprieve with the drop goal, but once again failed to find the target, condemning England to a third defeat to the All Blacks by seven points or less in less than four months.
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“The team in those drop goal situations has been pretty successful,” said coach Steve Borthwick. “This is the width of the post, the result goes one way or the other. That’s the issue of Test rugby when you’ve got two good teams and they were two good teams today.
“They had more caps in their 15 than we had in our 23. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win we wanted, but everyone can see this team is developing into a very strong team.”
England had not beaten New Zealand on home soil for 12 years, when the very best version of Manu Tuilagi ran all over the All Blacks, but they twice came close in the southern hemisphere over the summer to suggest this side were already in possession of the ability, if not yet the nous, to overthrow this legendary outfit.
This is hardly a vintage Kiwi side though. They only won three of their six Rugby Championship fixtures, and two of those came against a struggling Australia side. Perhaps that was reflected in the selection of the Barrett brothers Beauden and Jordie in yet another brand new 10 and 12 combination, at international level at least.
But before they could be tested came the haka, the focus of so much attention in the build-up after Joe Marler’s “binning” suggestion. One of sport’s great spectacles, England prepared a challenge of their own, walking forward as a team to stand on the halfway line as the All Blacks began their challenge. The visitors, for their part, responded in kind, ending with an advance that the left the two sides a few metres apart.
In a World Rugby competition, this would have been worthy of sanction, breaking the 10-metre gap. But this is not World Rugby’s domain and the theatre of the moment was worth any sanction that Six Nations Limited, arbiters of the autumn, might try to impose.
But little of that matters when the first whistle goes, and whatever the impact of the pre-match frivolities, it was New Zealand who landed the first blow of any note. Just as he had in their last meeting four months ago, Tele’a scored the opening try, the beneficiary of a poor double tackle on Wallace Sititi. George Furbank failing to prevent the offload and skinning prop Ellis Genge was light work for Tele’a, bagging his 11th try in 17 internationals.
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A pair of Smith penalties kept England in touch, essential in a game played at breakneck speed, but the first half’s best moment came from the All Blacks, Beauden Barrett recognising the chance to put Will Jordan up against Genge in open field, switching sides of the breakdown and then floating a short pass inside to put the full-back in.
Indiscipline stopped the All Blacks from pulling clear though – England’s four first-half penalty goals came from three tackles off the ball and a scrum misdemeanour against Tyrel Lomax – and their lead was just two points at the break. Having conceded eight penalties in total, they could count themselves lucky to still be in the lead.
And within five minutes of the restart, they were not. Smith, whose attacking prowess had been stifled in the opening 40 minutes, got the jump on Cortez Ratima’s pass, deep inside England’s own half, and the ensuing breakaway was finished by Feyi-Waboso, still a medical student at Exeter University.
In a game that felt like it could drift away from England in a flurry of All Black cutting edge, it was the shot in the arm Steve Borthwick’s men needed, and every kick, tackle and pass was celebrated by the home side, Tom Curry and the physics-defying Ben Earl, his side’s best player on the day, leading the charge.
The All Blacks thought they had hit back when Beauden Barrett jogged in under the posts, but referee Angus Gardner got perhaps the biggest cheer of the day when he, voice amplified so the whole stadium could hear, announced that Caleb Clarke had knocked the ball on.
But that noise was three times silenced, first by Tele’a’s second try, then McKenzie’s touchline conversion and finally when Ford’s penalty rebounded off the post.
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