DAY THE ALL BLACKS LOST THEIR AURA
IN THE third part of our series looking at the greatest moments of a memorable sporting year, Chris Foy reflects on arguably England’s finest-ever performance — the seismic World Cup semi-final win against the mighty All Blacks...
MARTIN JOHNSON doesn’t have much time for hype. He treats it with suspicion. In fact, he loathes it. The former England and Lions captain prefers measured assessment but this time he couldn’t help himself.
What Eddie Jones’ national team did to New Zealand at Yokohama Stadium in the World Cup semi-final on October 26 drew an emphatic and decidedly out- of-character verdict from the man who lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 2003. Speaking to this newspaper days later, Johnson said: ‘For me, the performance last Saturday was the best in English rugby history.
‘It’s the All Blacks, it’s a World Cup semi-final. We didn’t just throw the kitchen sink at them. It wasn’t just emotion. This was a cold, hard plan that worked and suddenly New Zealand are thinking about going home. I don’t want to shout it too loud, but that might have been the best performance by any team at the World Cup. Not just England.’
There were plenty of other observers in these parts who would have echoed Johnson’s sentiments. More than 10 million UK viewers watched coverage of England’s 19-7 win, as the aura of All Black supremacy was stripped away for the first time in a generation of World Cup contests.
The self-styled ‘most dominant team in the history of the world’ hadn’t lost at the global event since France upset them in a quarter-final in Cardiff in 2007.
New Zealand had won 18 World Cup matches in a row. They were favourites to complete a ‘threepeat’ of titles. England were the underdogs and Jones knew it, which was why he had made waves in the build-up.
Fostering a siege mentality was one thing, but the head coach went even further when he claimed that someone had been spotted trying to spy on England in training and floated the possibility that it might have been a Kiwi armed with a long lens. He also laid into the New Zealand media — deriding them as ‘fans with keyboards’. It all served to add tension and spice, and create a smokescreen behind which Jones plotted the recall of George Ford at No 10.
But it turned out that there was more plotting going on. That became evident just before kick-off in Yokohama. This wasn’t just an iconic rugby result and England’s greatest ever victory, it was also an occasion which provided pure sporting theatre.
Instead of standing in a line to dutifully face the fabled Haka, England adopted a ‘V’ formation, with the front players — Joe Marler on one end of the V, Billy Vunipola on the other — encroaching into the All Blacks’ half.
Marler advanced a long way forward and England were urged to retreat by referee Nigel Owens. They made a show of complying, without really doing so. They would later incur a fine, not that they cared one iota. The decision to present such a defiant challenge ignited the crowd in the stadium, while the smirk on the face of England captain Owen Farrell was seized on by TV cameras as footage of the remarkable stand- off was beamed around the world.
Instead of gaining their usual psychological advantage, New Zealand were rattled.
In the aftermath of the momentous encounter, it was a major talking point. The feeling was that England’s ploy — devised by Jones (right) — had set the tone for what followed.
Billy Vunipola said: ‘We wanted to send a bit of a message ourselves — bring it on. That’s what they do when they’re doing the Haka. They’re laying it down, so we thought, “Bring it on, we’re coming back for you a little bit”.’
England’s other Vunipola, brother Mako, added: ‘We wanted to make sure they understood that we would be ready for the fight. We knew it would rile them up, it probably felt like we disrespected them. We meant no offence by it, we just wanted to let them know we were ready.’
Tom Curry was the youngest member of the team who claimed their place in rugby folklore.
Asked weeks later what sticks in his mind, he said: ‘I remember little snippets from that night, like the Haka.
‘Their players were just looking around and didn’t seem to be able to fix on anyone. It gave me a lot of confidence because it looked like they were a bit unnerved by what we had done. They are just used to staring someone out.
‘I also remember Manu’s try so well, because it was everything we had spoken about — the quick start, going at them, not letting them attack us. We were always at them.’ England’s fast start stunned the world champions. Jones’ side hit the ground running — full of power and precision, pace and purpose — culminating in a try from Manu Tuilagi inside the first two minutes. Frankly, they didn’t look back from that point. Ardie Savea’s try for the All Blacks in the second half came from a rare lineout lapse but, in truth, Steve Hansen’s revered side were lucky to score a point. Everyone waited for a comeback but it never came. It was more of a mismatch than the scoreline suggests. It was a rout. The team who had spent 10 years at the top of the world rankings were reduced to running round in circles, in full headless-chicken mode, throwing hopeful, wild passes to
no one in particular. England’s defence locked them up and threw away the key.
Curry and his fellow ‘Kamikaze Kid’ flanker Sam Underhill once again wrought havoc with their tackling ferocity and breakdown prowess.
Time and again throughout the contest, the massed ranks of England supporters in the stands had broken into renditions of their Oh Maro Itoje chant, to the tune of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army.
The Saracens lock deservedly claimed the man-of-the-match award. He had walked the walk after bullishly talking the talk.
Two days before this semi-final, Itoje gave an interview which convinced all those present that England were ready to make history.
‘This weekend feels like the time we’re going to get them,’ he said. ‘I’ve never, ever gone into a game thinking that team is going to beat me. The way I see New
Zealand — I respect what they have done but I don’t see them as a team that is going to beat us. If we play our best rugby, we will win.’
It wasn’t only his words. Itoje’s relaxed demeanour conveyed the same message.
While the rest of the world were expecting another Kiwi triumph as a step towards winning the ultimate prize once again, within the England camp they had a genuine conviction that their time had come.
Jones would go on to reveal that he had spent more than two years preparing the ambush.
Of course, at the time, there was a distinct lack of euphoria within the England squad, as they still had business to attend to.
Coaches and players alike were at pains to emphasise that the job wasn’t finished. They downplayed what they had done, knowing there was a World Cup final ahead. That proved to be a game too far, as England slumped to a 32- 12 defeat against South Africa.
In hindsight, perhaps too much had gone into taming the All Blacks. Emotionally and physically, they lacked in the final what they had shown in such abundance seven days earlier — a furious intensity and clarity which the vaunted opposition simply couldn’t live with.
The campaign did not end how England wanted it to. There was agony after the ecstasy of beating a nearinvincible team. But looking back, those who were part of the epic feat will learn to appreciate that it was a special moment, a remarkable sporting pinnacle in its own right.
The reaction when the team flew back from Tokyo reinforced that point.
‘We understood what it meant to beat New Zealand, but not fully until we got back and everyone was so excited about it at home,’ said Curry. ‘Someone came up to me and said, “The World Cup will be remembered for you beating New Zealand, not South Africa winning it”.
‘That probably hit me the hardest as it showed just how much the result of that one game meant to people here.’
It was a result which captivated a nation and shocked the world. And it provided a service, too. A sport which had a predictable hierarchy had become unpredictable again.