NEW WORLD ORDER
Power, precision and smiling in the face of the haka as England knock the All Blacks off their pedestal
FROM the moment Owen Farrell stepped in front of the haka and broke into a twisted smile, everyone in the Yokohama Stadium knew that something was brewing.
Farrell does not smile at the best of times, but he winked at Aaron Smith, the All Black scrum-half, with the look of someone ready to carry out an act of treason.
England’s players formed a ‘V’ fanning out from their captain, with Billy Vunipola and Joe Marler creeping over the halfway line into opposition territory.
These sorts of things have backfired in the past but, on a famous night in Yokohama, England got everything right. The All Blacks did not know where to look.
What followed was arguably England’s greatest 80-minute performance in history. Standards have risen since 2003 — and New Zealand had not lost a World Cup game for 4,403 days.
It was an exhibition of power, precision, turnovers and outright destruction at the gain-line.
The likes of Kieran Read and Brodie Retallick were reduced to a battered, bruised and bloodied rabble. ‘Crash, bang, wallop,’ went the sound of the All Blacks being smashed off their pedestal into next week.
Sam Underhill announced himself as a tackling sensation, Maro Itoje disrupted everything and Tom Curry played like an English Richie McCaw.
On the 20-minute walk from Yokohama station to the stadium, Japanese street hawkers set up stalls exclusively selling New Zealand merchandise. Black shirts, black scarves, black everything.
The All Blacks brand has been bigger than rugby itself but England’s history boys laughed in the face of reputation.
Before kick-off, England had set up a seven-metre channel down the touchline and smashed their way through a gauntlet of defenders.
Steve Hansen watched from the halfway line with hands in pockets, while Marler grabbed Kyle Sinckler by the scruff of his shirt, revving him up with a few choice words. It was a sign of things to come.
From the kick-off, England’s wrecking balls stepped up. Manu Tuilagi smashed up the first carry, before Curry followed his lead. Switching grunt for grace, Elliot Daly skipped around Richie Mo’unga as England used every inch of the pitch.
Jamie George hugged the left touchline, accelerating into contact, before Courtney Lawes and Sinckler slipped the ball out of the tackle. Left, right, left. Bish, bash, bosh.
Ben Youngs kept things ticking, before Tuilagi dived over from close range. It was a start from the gods.
If the night had begun as a Kiwi party, before long it was an English takeover.
George Ford has spent his career answering questions about his size, but how he silenced his critics when he ripped the ball from the sweaty grasp of prop Nepo Laulua. It was one of those nights. His long kicks forced the rookie Kiwi wingers to turn 180 degrees. By the time they completed the full 360, kick-chasers were up in their face, foaming at the mouth.
The pace was breathless. In attack, Ford and Farrell weaved patterns like a Japanese tapestry. The forwards kept the ball alive in contact to stitch phase after phase.
In one of his final acts as All Blacks coach, Hansen got it wrong by selecting Scott Barrett in place of Sam Cane at No 6. His ploy was supposed to give New Zealand dominance at the lineout, but Itoje and Lawes stole ball after ball.
Teams often come out flying against New Zealand before dropping off, but the drop off never came. England had
two tries disallowed — through Underhill and Youngs — but that did not knock them off their rampant stride.
In the face of English pressure, the Kiwis threw passes they would not normally throw and the Kamikaze Kids — Curry and Underhill — punished every error.
At one point, Hansen’s face appeared on the big screens, just after George Bridge had been smashed into touch by Anthony Watson. Hansen rarely appears flustered — but his head dropped into his hands. New Zealand were rattled. The only saving grace was that England didn’t have more points to show for their early dominance.
There was concern when Farrell suffered a dead leg, but nothing was going to get him off the pitch as he grimaced and limped through the first half.
Ford took over the kicking duties and, after pushing a drop goal to the right, he extended the lead to 10 with a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Cane was brought on to combat
English threats, but the All Black aura chipped away with hit after hit.
Lock Sam Whitelock had won 18 from 18 at the World Cup before last night, but he was reduced to mortal status with cheap penalties in the second half.
Daly missed a long-range kick at goal, but regained his composure to beat Beauden Barrett in the air before Youngs’ disallowed try.
Jonny May and Sinckler both limped off before English hearts were in mouths when a no-arm challenge by Henry Slade was sent for a referral. Slade escaped. England breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, a reminder of the All Blacks’ danger. Albeit a fleeting one.
On his own five-metre line, George overthrew a lineout and Ardie Savea pounced for an easy score. One mistake, one try.
It took a trademark hit from Underhill to give England some breathing space. He crunched Jordie Barrett in his own 22, forcing a knock on and three more points for Ford. The Kiwis barely had space to breathe, let alone run, with secondary lines of English defence stepping in.
As the clock ticked down, it was time for the early summer days in Treviso — where England were sprinting, sweating and spewing at their training camp — to pay off.
A key penalty was reversed in England’s favour. Whitelock had shoved his palm into Farrell’s face. He stayed down until replays were played on the big screen — and Nigel Owens reversed his decision. Gamesmanship? We may never know.
More penalties, more points for Ford. England finishers came on and ground New Zealand down to a black-and-white pulp.
It triggered an English party, singing Oasis under the Yokohama night sky, but the party is only just getting started.