England send warning to World Cup rivals with statement win over All Blacks
Any victory over New Zealand is one of substance – since the beginning of time England have only managed it on nine occasions – but this one felt different for Steve Borthwick’s side.
Talk of statement victories can often be cheap, but with the World Cup draw in Sydney next month, England’s first scalp over the All Blacks at Twickenham since 2012 will have created ripples well beyond TW1.
With the starting gun already fired to the countdown to the tournament in Australia in 2027, England are a side who are catching the world’s attention again after too many years on the sidelines looking up.
Their stock has been rising ever since their defeat by Ireland in Dublin in February, their only loss of the year. That upward trajectory started to steepen in Argentina in July in the shadow of the Lions tour and yet what it needed to add gravitas to the narrative was a scalp this autumn. A big scalp. Now they have it.
In the changing room before kick-off, England captain Maro Itoje challenged his players to remember what they would have felt as 14 or 15-year-old boys, the age many were when England last won against the All Blacks in London, of how they would have dreamt to play at Twickenham against teams such as New Zealand.
By Monday morning, England may have moved up to No 3 in the world rankings, behind South Africa and New Zealand, having won their last 10 games in a row.
It was far from the complete performance by England, but there was so much to admire about this England side. Most notably was their ability to find a way back into the game after letting the All Blacks race into a 12-point lead after tries by Leicester Fainga’anuku and Codie Taylor. More often than not, when New Zealand smell blood, they push on relentlessly and run up a big score.
This is not a vintage side in their high standards, but still. They were able to cut England open in the wide channels with their handling skills and decoy running. And yet England did not flinch. The frustrations of early missed opportunities, Alex Coles was held up over the line, Sam Underhill could not find Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, when a try looked certain, did not affect them. Remarkably, they replied with 25 unanswered points to take control of the contest even before Borthwick had the opportunity to unleash his “Pom squad” from the bench.
The centrepiece was a glorious redemption for George Ford, as the agony of the last-gasp defeat a year ago by the All Blacks was banished. Ford’s missed penalty and drop-goal attempt at the death had ensured that England’s frustrating trend of near misses last year continued.
But how Ford made up for that miss, knocking over two perfectly struck drop goals at the end of the first half, to bring England back into the game by the interval.
His game control was immense, peppering the New Zealand back three with spiral bombs and landing a sublime 50:22 kick in the build-up to a try by Fraser Dingwall which put England 25-12 in front.
The fightback began with a brilliantly executed try from a scrum on the right-hand side just outside New Zealand’s 22. England attacked the narrow side, Marcus Smith – on as a replacement for Freddie Steward who failed a head injury assessment – ran a decoy run up the right and Ford’s flat pop pass to Ollie Lawrence allowed the England centre to bounce off the attempted tackle of Leroy Carter and then cross for a fine try. Just as Manu Tuilagi had tortured the All Blacks defence 13 years ago, England had another powerhouse centre wreaking havoc.
Then, living up to his billing as England’s master controller, Ford knocked over successive drop goals, rekindling memories of his masterclass against Argentina in the World Cup pool game in 2023.
A key moment came at the start of the second half, when Taylor was shown a yellow card for knocking the ball out of Smith’s hands when he was off his feet.
England kicked to the corner, Lawrence hit the midfield, and after the ball was recycled quickly, Alex Mitchell looked to have darted to the line. For good measure, the ball was recycled again and Underhill powered over.
New Zealand responded, but a dropped pass by Carter was typical of their patchy display. When England won a penalty by shunting their opponents’ scrum, it was another major momentum swing. When Dingwall dived over, from strike play off a line-out, the Twickenham faithful were already celebrating.
Borthwick will have been frustrated that they allowed New Zealand a way back into the game when Will Jordan crossed to bring them to within a score, but appropriately it was left to Ford to land the coup de grace, landing a penalty in the 76th minute to take England’s lead to beyond two scores, before a late try by Tom Roebuck, with New Zealand ragged, sealing the stunning victory.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
