England 22-24 New Zealand
By Ben Jaycock at Twickenham
George Ford missed a late penalty and last gasp drop goal as a heartbroken England suffered three defeats to New Zealand in the space of four months.
Ford missed a routine three that struck the upright but New Zealand spilled the rebound resulting in a scrum straight in front of the posts.
England won the scrum and a few phases later, Ford dropped into the pocket to settle a thrilling test match but his kick sailed wide.
Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith started and made a strong case to be England’s starter moving forward as he scored four penalties and was the instigator of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s second half try which put England into a second half lead. Eyebrows were raised when Smith was displaced for Ford and questions will be asked long into the aftermath of this thriller.
Steve Borthwick‘s side looked to have earned their first victory over New Zealand in Twickenham since 2012 but rued their ill-discipline as it was agony rather than ecstasy for England.
A resilient Kiwi fightback saw Mark Telea score the decisive try which broke Red Rose hearts once more – a common theme of the Borthwick era.
England’s win over an inexperienced Japan in a low key affair is now sandwiched between a heartbreaking loss to France at the end of the Six Nations before a trio of reverses to New Zealand.
Following an inconsistent opening and underwhelming Rugby Championship, Scott Robertson picked up his most impressive victory to date during his four-month tenure as All Blacks boss courtesy of a gutsy second half fightback.
Much of the pre-match noise was around the Haka and England faced up to the pre-match ritual by walking up to halfway, increasing the drama with a hefty fine to come.
England made an expansive opening with Ben Spencer dummying a box kick inside his own 22 before finding Smith whose cross-field kick to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso almost paid off.
The home side continued on the front foot with lineouts deliberately overthrown to punch holes in the Kiwi defensive line through rampaging runners. A tackle off the ball on the influential Chandler Cunningham-South allowed Smith to open the scoring with a routine three.
It was kicks galore in the opening period with Beauden Barrett in particular kicking away possession each time he had his hands on the ball.
Feyi-Waboso was guilty of offside allowing the All Blacks to piggyback themselves into the 22. After winning a messy line out, quick play to the outside saw Wallace Sititi produce an audacious offload that saw Mark Telea go around Ellis Genge with ease to finish in the corner.
Beauden Barrett dispatched the conversion from a tough angle before England hit back with sustained pressure that saw Smith slot another three.
England had the early advantage at scrum time as Will Stuart got the better of Tamaiti Williams but Smith couldn’t capitalise after missing touch.
Moments later, Will Jordan continued his freakish try scoring record at Test level following a scissor pass by Beauden Barrett that again saw Genge beaten.
Smith scored his third penalty before Cunningham-South produced a monstrous hit on Tupou Vaai which resulted in a boisterous roar from the capacity crowd.
England’s scrum superiority gave Smith his fourth penalty kick from 44m out, meaning the home side trailed by two at the interval which they would have been thankful for given Sititi, who was head and shoulders above the rest, broke through the defensive line. His pass to Vaai was spilled denying the visitors a certain try despite Smith’s late attempted drop goal that was wayward.
At the start of the second half, Smith read New Zealand’s attack like a book, with a vital interception and crucially had the patience to feed George Furbank, who had the easy task of offloading to try scorer Feyi-Waboso.
Smith was growing with stature and was winning the battle of the two 10’s, delivering a pinpoint 50:22, moments after his opposite number kicked the ball dead.
Beauden Barrett appeared to have profited from Caleb Clarke’s offload to score but the TMO spotted a deliberate knock on by Clarke in the build up.
Following Smith’s substitution, Spencer punished the All Blacks’ ill-discipline but replacement Damian McKenzie slotted a 66th minute penalty after Ben Earl’s no arms tackle to setup a grandstand finish.
New Zealand huffed and puffed and eventually, England’s defence creaked with Telea twisting and turning his way over for a second score following quick hands by McKenzie and Jordan.
Anton Lienert-Brown was sin-binned for a high shot on Theo Dan which gave Ford the opportunity to seal the deal but the Sale Sharks 10 lacked the required composure.
ENGLAND: Furbank, Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman, Smith, Spencer; Genge, George (c), Stuart, Itoje, Martin, Cunningham-South, T Curry, Earl
Replacements: Dan, Baxter, Cole, Isiekwe, B Curry, Dombrandt, Randall, Ford
NEW ZEALAND: Jordan, Telea, Ioane, J Barrett, Clarke, B Barrett, Ratima; Williams, Taylor, Lomax, S Barrett, Vaai, Sititi, Cane, Savea
Replacements: Aumua, Tu’ungafasi, Tosi, Tuipulotu, Finau, Roigard, Lienert-Brown, McKenzie
Referee: Angus Gardner
Star man: Wallace Sititi – New Zealand
Attendance: 82,000
Half time: 12-14
