Following a 24-17 victory for the All Blacks over England at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, here’s our five takeaways from the international clash.
The top line
A breathtaking Test match that went right down to the last play saw New Zealand maintain their Eden Park record as they took the spoils 24-17 in a brutal yet thrilling clash.
With two tries apiece and a kick battle of epic proportions, the All Blacks’ bench impact – in particular the brilliant Beauden Barrett and the formidable frame of Fletcher Newell – just took the game away from the visitors. Barrett’s inclusion allowed New Zealand to find the extra gear to get around England as he made the extra distributor to finally break the heroic rush defence from their opponents.
The lead changed hands four times as both teams threw everything at each other in a titanic set-piece and breakdown battle that, on balance, New Zealand shaded by the smallest of margins. When pressure comes, so errors combine and whilst England can be mightily proud of their display, the last quarter saw their discipline crumble as the All Blacks dug to the depth of their experience to play in the right areas and to maintain legal brutality at the breakdown.
For New Zealand, their experience and knowledge in winning tight games saw them home. For England, this will be a salient lesson in keeping attacking pressure on when maintaining a tight lead, but they’ll emerge better for the experience and they’ll look forward to welcoming New Zealand back to Twickenham in November.
Berry call
At the end of the match, referee Nic Berry made a contentious call when he deemed Ollie Lawrence to be offside and preventing the tackle when the England centre and Jamie George broke off the side of a threatening maul on the All Black line. For some, the interpretation of the moment might have been called differently, but examining the laws, the Aussie official appears to have got this spot on.
When breaking from the maul, Lawrence and George were still bound. But at that moment, there was no defending player from New Zealand in contact. By that definition the maul was spent the moment that Lawrence and George broke away from the main pod.
As Beauden Barrett and the last line of defence then re-engaged to defend, Lawrence’s presence blocked the All Blacks from effectively tackling George, the man in possession, so that, despite the players remaining in contact throughout, means that Ollie Lawrence was offside.
Credit to Nic Berry, who had an outstanding match, that he and his team of officials took time under pressure to review the moment and to come up with a completely accurate and well reasoned interpretation of events. It was marginal stuff, and England were not happy with the call on pitch, but this was a game of the finest of margins and Berry delivered a fantastic spectacle of precision and empathetic refereeing under pressure, nailing that crucial call in a calm and unhurried manner.
Set-piece battle
Make no mistake, Maro Itoje is back to his niggling and snarling best as England, particularly in the first half, dismantled the New Zealand lineout to put immense pressure on the hosts. He and his colleagues’ display made life hell for Codie Taylor and his jumpers as every trick in the book in lineout challenge was led by the mighty Saracen.
Sure, the second half saw New Zealand fix their woes to a large degree but the simple stats tell us that the All Blacks lost seven of their own throws through steals or pressure. Rather inexplicably, New Zealand used their most athletic and lightest jumper, Ardie Savea, primarily at the front of the lineout, which meant England could focus on two main New Zealand options in the middle and it was noticeable that Scott Robertson moved the All Black flank to the middle when New Zealand got back into the lineout battle in the last quarter.
However, for all England’s superiority in that area, there’s no doubt that the All Blacks scrum took the honours, although credit to Will Stuart and the outstanding Fin Baxter, who had a mighty game in carry and tackle, that they held on and offered England a degree of surety, even if it was unstable at times, as they solved a massive problem in front of them after the first three scrums had seen big wins for the Kiwis.
The third set-piece, the aerial battle, was a thriller and as the game progressed, and Beauden Barrett added his magic to proceedings, the hosts just about gained superiority in the air. England did well scoring off two aerial cross kicks off the superb Marcus Smith to his wings, but those tries were created by England committing numbers in midfield and getting the All Blacks narrow in defence.
With the floor battle seeing a much improved display from England, who fought far more accurately than they managed last week, it was the aerial and scrum margins that gave New Zealand their platform to win and to take the series 2-0.
All Blacks keep Eden Park fortress intact with another dramatic victory over excellent England
Tele’a magnificent
On the All Blacks left wing Mark Tele’a had a massive impact on proceedings. Not only his two tries, but his ability to create space and to beat men in scramble chaos is the hallmark of his game and he caused the England defence a lot of issues.
Whilst England went brilliantly in the middle of the park with their blitz, really causing New Zealand problems in exiting, and getting right in the faces of clearing kickers and returning carriers, that level of commitment in midfield often creates space in the wide channels and Tele’a thrived on getting through the England scramble, with his finish for the first try something quite exceptional.
Again, the impact of Beauden Barrett cannot be understated; having that second distributor to attack really solved the issue of getting around the England rush and it was Barrett who was the architect of the second Tele’a score as his hands and vision created the space and moment for the All Black wing to make the killer blow.
New Zealand will learn a lot from this contest; they will note that they lack the penetration in the centres of old and that Damian McKenzie, for all his skill set brilliance, needs a supporting kicker and distributor to change the dynamics and points of attack. But they’re fast learners and it was their ability to change things up with rugby intellect on the pitch that got them over the line in this match and both Barrett and Tele’a starred in that aspect.
England learnings
As David Campese wrote in his Planet Rugby column this week, England must start to be concerned about their ability to close out games of tight margins against the best sides in the world. Today was another case in point, but the age profile of England is such that they can take immense confidence from what they’ve delivered. Despite the two match series loss, there was only a margin of eight points in this series and Steve Borthwick won’t be disappointed in that regard.
What will have pleased him is how young players have come in and responded to the heat of Test rugby. Marcus Smith has proven without question that he’s able to control a top tier game at 10 and his performances in both matches might just see him leapfrog other contenders for the November series.
At six and four, Chandler Cunningham-South and George Martin, 21 and 23 respectively, have looked to the manor born as Test players and add both thump and power to England’s forward effort. Fin Baxter too has shown his credentials, holding up well against a world-class tighthead in Tyrel Lomax, but crucially shining in defence and his ability to carry safely from first receiver.
England really missed George Furbank at the back on Saturday but all of the three men that played on the wing in this match made massive dents in the Kiwi defence, with Ollie Sleightholme making a thundering run that almost drew the match for the visitors.
It might not have been a winning tour and England will be frustrated at that, but in terms of learning and blooding youngsters, there’s a big tick in the plus column for a lot of Steve Borthwick’s selections and of course, the improving lineout and defensive work of his whole team.