All Blacks v England
English players did a lap of honour. They said it was to acknowledge the crowd who had turned up to support them. Kiwis, meanwhile, were left shaking their heads in disbelief.
1998, Dunedin: New Zealand 64-22 England
England arrived down under with an inexperienced squad stacked with uncapped players and the Wallabies and All Blacks duly thrashed them. Clive Woodward, who would lead England to World Cup glory in 2003, was in his second year as coach. England turned up in Dunedin on the back of a record 76-0 loss to Australia in Brisbane before defeats in tour matches to New Zealand A (10-18) and a New
Zealand Rugby Academy side (32-50). So, the All Blacks had no trouble in scoring a record 64-22 win over England, whose ‘‘Tour of Hell’’ only got worse. Further defeats to New Zealand Ma¯ ori (14-62), the All Blacks (10-40) and South Africa followed (0-18).
2003, Wellington: New Zealand 13-15 England
England’s gritty win at Westpac Stadium laid the platform for their World Cup success months later. The English outmuscled the All Blacks and won 15-13 despite playing a period of the second half with only six forwards after two were sent to the sinbin. It was England’s second win over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil. A week later, England knocked over the Wallabies, the reigning world champions, 25-14 in Melbourne and they went on to lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Sydney, beating Australia 20-17 in the final.
2004, Dunedin: New Zealand 36-3 England
England went to the deep south as reigning champions and world No 1 but their squad was not as strong as the one which won the World Cup the previous year. Woodward was still in charge but Graham Henry was the new All Blacks coach and the latter was victorious in their first clash ahead of the 2005 Lions tour, thrashing England 36-3. The All Blacks claimed the world No 1 ranking and held it for more than three years until South Africa won the 2007 World Cup.
2012, London: England 38-21 New Zealand
By far England’s best win over the All Blacks, whose hopes of an unbeaten season vanished as Manu Tuilagi ran riot at Twickenham. The All Blacks were world champions and had beaten England in their last nine tests, so few were anticipating an English win following defeats to Australia and South Africa in the previous weeks. But the side coached by Stuart Lancaster delivered the best performance of his reign, dominating the All Blacks in all facets, and hopes were high with England hosting the World Cup three years later. However, that dream became a nightmare when England were catastrophically eliminated from their own tournament in the pool stage.
2018, London: England 15-16 New Zealand
Memorable because it’s the only test between the two since the All Blacks won their four encounters in 2014. It was not a thrilling spectacle as rain poured relentlessly at Twickenham. England led 15-0 in the first half before the All Blacks replied with 16 unanswered points. Twickenham went crazy when Sam Underhill fooled Beauden Barrett to score a match-winning try in the final minutes but a marginal offside call went against England as Courtney Lawes charged down TJ Perenara’s box kick in the build-up. It looked like the correct decision but there was plenty of English outcry nonetheless. Underhill’s try would be legal now, however, after World Rugby discreetly tweaked the offside rule.