Barrett: It means a lot to win. We were pushed to the limits

All Blacks delighted to storm England ‘fortress’ Retallick claims it was ideal tune-up for Ireland

Beauden Barrett admitted New Zealand were “pushed to the limits” by a fired-up England at Twickenham, while Brodie Retallick suggested an arduous 16-15 victory represented ideal preparation for this weekend’s contest against Ireland.

Steve Hansen’s side now travel to Dublin to face the team ranked immediately below them on World Rugby’s rankings ladder. Ireland welcome the All Blacks as reigning Grand Slam Six Nations champions and have lost only once in their past 15 matches at the Aviva Stadium – that being a 21-9 defeat by New Zealand two years ago, just a fortnight after they had toppled the same opponents in Chicago.

Barrett, who landed a first Test dropped goal on Saturday, insisted ousting Eddie Jones’s charges in driving rain marked a significant achievement. “It means a lot,” he said. “You would’ve seen the emotion to grind out a tough win against England. This is their fortress. They love to play that type of game, they love these conditions. It was a good test for us.

“It’s been a while since we played England, so there has been a lot of hype. There’s a lot of guys who played at Twickenham for the first time. They’ll remember that for a long time, as will I. We were pushed to the limits.”

Retallick, 27, derailed England’s line-out operation with a string of steals and also contributed on either side of the ball in the loose during an imperious display.

Asked whether the match was the perfect tune-up exercise for a trip across the Irish Sea, he agreed that it would stand New Zealand in good stead.

“I guess it probably is,” Retallick said. “It had been nice all day and then when we ran out it was pouring with rain. We knew what was coming, but we still didn’t deal with some things well in that first half.

“Just before half-time was the only time we managed to string a few phases together and get some go-forward ball. The rest of the time it was pretty slow and they were coming off the line and hitting us behind the advantage line. We definitely needed to points before half-time.”

Choosing to take a scrum from a penalty inside the England 22, New Zealand were rewarded with Damian Mckenzie’s try before Barrett added another three points with the final play of a manic first period.

From 15-0 down, the visitors were suddenly in touch at just 15-10 behind. Thanks largely to Retallick’s line-out work, New Zealand kept England scoreless in the second half and prevailed.

“In the wet it isn’t easy,” added Retallick. “A lot of people in the street [this week] were telling us to take it easy, but we knew it was going to be tough. Obviously we have another big one against Ireland now, so it’s good build-up.” get some