No sweet victory, but World Cup lives again
AT THE end of this great Test match although England had lost by a sliver to New Zealand, they had found something invaluable.
The belief that even without a legion of injured players they can again be considered true World Cup contenders.
England got the rub of the green against South Africa on this ground last week, and this time it was New Zealand’s turn to benefit from a controversial officiating call when referee Jerome Garces allowed his initial decision to award Sam Underhill’s 75th minute try to be overruled by TMO Marius Jonker.
Had the try been awarded the All Blacks would have found it difficult to overhaul an England side transformed from their stuttering display against the Springboks, even allowing for their remarkable powers of recovery. Instead, Jonker deemed Courtney Lawes was in an offside position before charging down TJ Perenara’s clearance just inside the New Zealand half.
When Underhill rounded off an immense display by collecting the bounce and racing into the All Black 22, turning Beauden Barrett inside-out with a dip towards the posts, before scoring in the corner, Garces had no hesitation in signalling a try.
That gave England a 20-16 lead before the TMO put the conversion on hold. The rewind showed that Perenara had the ball in his hands for an age before Lawes raced forward, and it was an extremely harsh call on the Northampton man – and England – especially given that in hair’s breadth decisions referees invariably favour the attacking side.
The South African TMO’s intervention was made worse because the ruling on over-turning a try awarded by a referee is that it has to be a “clear and obvious” infringement. There was nothing clear and obvious about Jonker’s call, and this time it was England who were robbed of a famous victory.
The consolation for the Red Rose fans who roared them to the rafters – and booed the TMO decision to the same decibel level – is that England are back on track after giving New Zealand every bit as good as they got.
They not only outscored the double world champions by two tries to one, they dominated the first half, and even though they lacked the same precision after the break – giving the outstanding Brodie Retallick the leeway to wreck their line-out – they were the side that found the extra gears in the last ten minutes.
However, credit must also go to the All Blacks for not only weathering the English first-half storm, in a match played in an incessant downpour, but also having the composure and defensive clout after the break to overhaul a 15-10 half-time deficit. They did so thanks to a drop-goal and match clinching penalty by Barrett, but it was always a knife-edge contest.
There was a scent of something epic in the Twickenham air as the crowd paid their respects to the fallen from both nations on the centenary Armistice of the Great War, and then drowned out the Haka with a rousing rendition of Swing Low.
With those seeds of inspiration sown England started with a fervour they lacked last week against South Africa, and were as good here in the first half as they were poor last week.
England were urgent, vital, accurate, and above all bold, as they tore into New Zealand from the kick off. A rare fumble by Retallick from the kick-off gave the home side the sniff of momentum they craved and, from the first scrum of the game, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje and Underhill rammed the ball over the gain-line.
New Zealand were reeling, and a long miss-pass by a revitalised Ben Youngs found Ashton in space on the right touchline. Ashton showed why he is one of the best finishers in the game, taking it on the move before diving early to plane underneath Damian McKenzie’s cover tackle for the opening try with less than two minutes on the clock.
Although Owen Farrell hit the post from the touchline, when England kept the All Blacks on the hop with a Jonny May tramline chip and chase, and a line-out overthrow to Brad Shields which led to another Underhill charge, the fly-half ’s sweet drop-goal from 30 metres made it 8-0.
With Shields leading an offensive defensive effort in the wet, and England solid on their own scrum-ball, they were dominating possession and territory – and it paid off when a Farrell kick to the corner from a penalty put them 10 metres from the All Black line.
The drive on Itoje’s clean catch gradually gathered momentum as the England phalanx drove infield on an arc, and then as Ben Te’o, Henry Slade, Youngs and Ashton joined the forwards it went into overdrive, smashing through for Dylan Hartley to touch down.
This was a huge improvement on the limp driving maul that has handicapped England for much of Eddie Jones’ tenure, and, with Farrell converting for a 15-0 lead, there were good grounds for thinking the All Blacks were there for the taking.
That is always a mistake, and with Ryan Crotty replacing Sonny Bill Williams ten minutes before half-time the visitors started to raise their game. With Codie Taylor, Retallick and Ardie Savea making hard yards up the middle, New Zealand forced a scrum 12 metres from the England line, and with Crotty cannonballing to within reach of the line, they were in business.
Although Kieran Read was smashed by a flying Lawes tackle, Aaron Smith cleared from the ruck and an inside pass from Barrett bamboozled the English midfield for McKenzie to burst through untouched.
Barrett added the extras to make it 15-7, and when Farrell made one of his few mistakes by kicking the restart straight out, England’s first-half excellence was in danger of being wiped out in a handful of minutes before half-time.
When New Zealand attacked from the scrum on half-way and forced a penalty in front of the posts Barrett cut the deficit to
five points as the teams turned around.
The momentum shift towards the world champions was emphasised when, a minute into the secondhalf, they butchered a try when a brilliant McKenzie offload to spring Ben Smith clear saw Aaron Smith put his pass behind Savea, forcing the flanker to fumble with the line open.
However, with New Zealand turning the tables in terms of possession, Barrett slotted over his short-range drop-goal, and the match became a titanic battle of wills. England came close to scoring from another line-out rumble only for Sinckler to spill the ball just before the line, and when the All Blacks laid siege at the other end just before the hour they took the lead for the first time – and the last – with Barrett kicking the penalty.
England moved might and mane to overhaul them, but with three of Jamie George’s line-out throws being picked off by Retallick, and another going west, they were hardpressed. Even so, their belief never wavered – and had Lawes’ charge down and Underhill’s epic burst for the line been allowed to stand it would have been England’s day.
As it was, they had to make do with bloodied but unbowed – and a reputation restored.