Here’s the full match report from Twickenham
Owen Farrell is chatting to Amazon Prime Sport
“[Whether we should’ve kick the ball out at the end] Depended where we had the ball, we had a few out on their feet and in the end it was the right decision, I think. We added a few errors on errors in the game, but it didn’t feel like we were miles off, maybe a few percent but that’s a lot vs New Zealand. I was really pleased we fought to the end and I feel like we’re growing. This team hasn’t been together too long so we need to keep developing.”
Some comeback from England that, which is something they’re not usually great at. Great attacking patterns appeared as the bench was emptied, but the big ask is how Jones can get the team to have more of the mix of power and creativity in a game that isn’t already out of range? As thrilling as this was, it still leaves a frustrated taste in the mouth for England fans.
FULL TIME! England 25 - 25 New Zealand
PEEEEEEEEEP! IT’S A DRAW AT TWICKENHAM!
Marcus Smith chips the ball out when in possession in England half, which raises some boos from the crowd who wanted them to have a go at getting up the field for a win.
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TRY! England 25 - 25 New Zealand (Will Stuart)
79 mins. England again get some joy up the right after a poor Perenara box kick gives them a counter-attack chance, with Slade again making a difference with his gliding pace in the 13 channel. Guy Porter makes ground up the touchline before the ball is moved infield for Stuart to power over in a tackle and score his second try of the match!
Smith converts it and it’s bloody all square”!
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76 mins. It’s noticeable that things have got a lot better for England at the same time NZ have stopped throwing as many people into the ruck. The visitors would do well to rethink this if they want to close this out.
TRY! England 18 - 25 New Zealand (Freddie Steward)
74 mins. England have really woken up now, springong from a counter attack from deep with Dave Ribbans throwing a glorious one-handed offload to release the attack up the right. Steward, who is up in the line more often now, dives over after being fed by Youngs.
Smith converts.
Could it be on?!
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TRY! England 11 - 25 New Zealand (Will Stuart)
72 mins. In the immediate aftermath of the Barrett infringement, England managed to drive over the line with Stuart just about managing to get the ball down on the whitewash in the middle of a huge pile-on.
Smith can’t convert.
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YELLOW CARD! Beauden Barrett (New Zealand)
71 mins. On the next attack England go miles up the left from a Marcus Smith break, but a desperate cover tackle by Beauden drops him inches short of the line before the fullback cynically holds onto him on the ground.
He’s given ten minutes to think about it. A very busy few minutes for Barrett!
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DROP GOAL! England 6 - 25 New Zealand (Beauden Barrett)
70 mins. For the first time in a little while NZ have possession on the England 22 and on the advantage after Vunipola is lying on the wrong side Barrett bangs a DG over.
67 mins. Another set of phases for England, this time started off by a great first phase move off the lineout that puts May free behind the tackle line. He’s stopped by Barrett and again more carries around the ruck start on a penalty advantage before Smith tries to find Steward out right with a cross kick to no avail. They come back for a lineout and England’s indiscipline gives a penalty to New Zealand. Infuriating.
Guy Porter is on for Nowell.
64 mins. It’s another set of phases for England in the NZ 22 and as usual it’s lots of passes without a huge amount of shape and a lot of people snatching at those passes. Eventually it breaks down via a knock on.
Dave Ribbans and Jack Willis on for Johnny Hill and Sam Simmonds
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62 mins. England have a lot more pace and rhythm following their substitutions, with Youngs buzzing a bit more around the ruck. The latest attack wins a penalty that is in the corner for an attacking lineout of the home side.
TJ Perenara is on for Aaron Smith
60 mins. Johnny May has a good run from deep, darting around a couple of tackles but the All Black defence swarm and win a penalty after’s he’s tackled and a little isolated. Decent run from May, but not once did he look left or right for what may have been around him for a pass.
58 mins. England go from a lineout in the NZ 22 and some solid carries from Simmonds and Billy Vunipola take them up to the All Black 5m line before Ardie Savea latches onto the ball, and there’s no shifting him.
Samisoni Taukei’aho and Nepo Laulala have replaced Tyrel Lomax and Codie Taylor for NZ
55 mins. NZ work some phase from their scrum, and at the latest Tom Curry gets up in Aaron Smith’s business at the back of the ruck but as the ball breaks loose Ref Raynal is in the way and has to call a halt. NZ very lucky there, as that breaking ball could’ve ended up anywhere.
ENgland have a new front row: Kyle Sinckler, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge off for Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Will Stuart
52 mins. It’s a decent response from England who work the ball on the right and make some ground before Van Poortvliet again takes a little too long to get the pass away, allowing Retallick to smack the ball from his hands.
That will be the young half’s last action as he’s replaced by Ben Youngs. Manu Tuilagi is also off, swapped for Henry Slade
THE CLOCK IS BACK ON!
TRY! England 6 - 22 New Zealand (Rieko Ioane)
49 mins. England win their lineout on the NZ 22 and it’s the familiar pattern of feeding Simmonds in the 12 channel to have a run, but he’s rattled by Jordie Barrett to dislodge the ball. On the transition of possession it’s the cross-kick once more, this time wide left to Clarke who pops to Ioane who streaks 60 metres to dab down in the corner.
Jordie pulls the conversion left.
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45 mins (I think). England pound the All Black line, short carry after short carry being repelled before Itoje gives away a penalty for diving on the ruck.
All Blacks catch and drive their lineout and it goes miles before England are pinged for pulling it down.
44 mins (I think). Van Poortvliet has been allowed to continue and his first notable action is to put a belting box kick up that puts England in a very good attacking position. The ball comes left and Tuilagi is through a gap, bears down on the fullback ignoring his support and… is tackled by Beauden Barrett! Poor decision.
AMAZON STILL DON’T HAVE A SCORE OR CLOCK ON THE SCREEN!
PENALTY! England 6- 17 New Zealand (Marcus Smith)
42 mins. Smith takes over kicking duties from Farrell and adds three.
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Second Half!
40 mins. Owen Farrell who appears to have recovered as he gets us back underway and England have an early penalty as Cowan-Dickie clamps on at the breakdown.
@bloodandmud England are an absolute shambles, and it’s not Van Poortvliet that’s really at fault, he’s just a symptom. It’s the more senior players having shockers that’s meaning he’s exposed. Manu, Smith and Billy V have been completely anonymous (again) Itoje & May are bad
— AndyinBrum @andyinbrum@c.im (@AndyinBrum) November 19, 2022
Don’t disagree that Van Poortvliet isn’t being given the best platform, but there are some fundamentally poor things he did in that half that an international half shouldn’t be doing. However, Youngs coming on may reduce some errors, but as you say it won’t fix the systemic problems.
Half time musings.
After the emotional shock of NZ hammering out to a 14 point lead, England did well to pull themselves back to performance parity in the second quarter. But, some poor decision making on penalty options, no kicking game from hand to speak of and I’m sorry to say, a fetid performance from the young scrum half means they are nowhere near parity on the scoreboard.
New Zealand are not exactly playing brilliantly, but the scrum is looking strong, Mo’unga is pulling some strings with his cross-kicks and they are winning the back row and breakdown game convincingly at present.
It looks likely England will be without Farrell for the second half as well, and given Eddie Jones’s team’s general inability to come from behind this is a very difficult situation for the home side to get a result from.
HALF TIME! England 3 – 17 New Zealand
PEEEEEEEEEEP! That’s it for this half.
PENALTY! England 3 – 17 New Zealand (Jordie Barrett)
40 mins. The fullback adds three points to end the half.
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39 mins (I think!). All Blacks are in the England 22 after decent run from Mo’unga. The ball is out right as Telea attempts to bash through May with little success. Lots of phases to work the ball to the left after this come to nought as the ball goes loose and into touch.
However, advantage was being played for England offside some time back.
Farrell is down looking in quite a bit of pain with his ankle.
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37 mins (I think!). England lineout just inside their own half is off the top and to Sam Simmonds for a trademark carry. Couple of sensible phases end as Van Poortvliet is too slow with the box kick again and NZ can spoil.
Apologies, but since 30 mins I’ve been guessing the time as Amazon Prime Sport have for some reason deleted the clock and score infographic. This is like if MBMs existed in 1989.
33 mins. Van Poortvliet’s box kick is too deep, so Clarke gathers and moves the ball right to Beauden Barrett who sprays a cross-kick to Talea who gets an offload away to free NZ up the right. It looks like it’s about to get very scary for England but Ioane spills a pop pass as the attack enters the England half.
30 mins. The All Black pack absolutely concertina the England scrum which goes backwards and splits like a post-Brexit national consensus. Again though, the visitors can’t capitalise as Taylor’s lineout throw is wonky.
28 mins. The ball is sprayed left by Farrell and Talea is penalised for tackling high on May. The chance for territory is wasted by England as touch is missed on the penalty punt, which is then ruined by NZ as Ioane is penalised for being in front of the kicker as Clarke boots the ball clear. A hideously maladroit few minutes all round.
PENALTY! England 3 - 14 New Zealand (Owen Farrell)
25 mins. Big scrum from England wins a penalty in the NZ 22 and Farrell decides it’s time to get some points on the board, calls for the tee and slots it.
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21 mins. Sam Simmonds has a carry off the top of an England lineout on the NZ 22. He makes some metres over the gainline but the folowing phase sees the ball dislodged and the black defence snaffle it. It’s NZ’s turn to be imprecise next as they make a mess of the exit, knock on and England will have a scrum on the 22 in the middle of the field.
18 mins. He’s young and inexperienced, so you have to allow for this, but Van Poortvliet has had a horrible opening quarter.
17 mins. Van Poortvliet is caught at the back of the ruck by a rampaging Savea as he dawdles a bit with his box kick. NZ spring onto the ball and fire it right to Talea who is nearly around Tuilagi but the centre gets to him, but it looks in vein as the next phase sees Ioane over to score.
Or has he? Ref Raynal wants a look at Ioane’s activity at a previous ruck as it looks like it’s a neck roll by the All Black centre on Farrell. On review the Ref confirms it is, and the try won’t stand.
14 mins. Itoje claims the lineout, but Vunipola is pinged for blocking the NZ defence from getting to him as he comes down. A few seconds later in the next possession for the All Blacks Vunipola is again penalised, this time for sealing off at the ruck.
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12 mins. England, who have been a ramshackle mess so far, finally have some possession as May makes some ground up the left. Smith is orchestrating things in the NZ 22 and after a few phases and big carries the All Blacks are offside. Farrell puts the penalty into the corner.
TRY! England 0 - 14 New Zealand (Codie Taylor)
8 mins. Genge is penalised at the scrum (incorrectly, for mine) and from the lineout in the corner it’s an All Black catch and drive which Taylor finishes off from short metres. Nothing incorrect about that.
Jordie converts.
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7 mins. Scrum time for NZ and Mo’unga caresses a chip wide to Clarke who runs into the gap that Nowell has left by coming narrow off this wing. On the next phase it breaks down as England get a hand in to knock on.
TRY! England 0 - 7 New Zealand (Dalton Papali'i)
4 mins. England’s lineout goes beyond the 15 metres and Van Poortvliet throws a pass for Farrell that Papali’i reads like advance release book, yoinks it a full speed and gallops forty metres to score.
That was absolutely awful from England. No redeeming features at all, like the 1990s Toyota Corolla.
Mo’unga converts.
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3 mins. NZ have the first lineout of the game and it’s in the England half. Papali’i has a rumble up with the ball and it comes left to Jordie Barrett who has too easy a ride through the white defence. He’s hauled down eventually but the attack breaks down when it comes back to the right.
Kick Off!
1 min. Mo’unga dinks a short one which Itoje gathers. We’re underway!
Stop! Haka Time!
England line-up, arms around their shoulders, to form a tight white wall to receive the Haka, the All Blacks powerful honouring of their culture. The crowd respond with a loud Swing Low. Hmm…bit awkward.
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The teams are out into searchlights and strobes panning all over the stadium, like a disco with too many people in chinos, before they line up for the anthems.
Huge anticipation @bloodandmud but I can't help feeling weary with Eddie's "judge me on the world cup mate" schtick. I don't want him out, I just want us to try and win games now too. Or it just devalues all games outside the tournament. The next two weeks *are* like a world cup.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) November 19, 2022
The issue with that schtick is that hardly anything looks like it’s building towards the World Cup at all. The problems in the performances have been consistent for two years and praying for Manu to stay fit – which has been England’s dominant plan since 2013 – hardly speaks to a coherent strategy.
There was pretty big result in Cardiff earlier today. Get all the details here
Pre-match reading
Beauden Barrett has returned to the 15 jersey for the match, and his match-up with England’s Steward is one to keep an eye on. Here’s Ugo Monye with more…
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I’ll tell you what, you can get in touch if you want. Use your finger to either email me or tweet @BloodAndMud with your thoughts on whether either of these teams can finally put a performance together.
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Teams
Owen Farrell captains the side on his 100th appearance and is joined in the centres by the returning Manu Tuilagi. Billy Vunipola and Jack Nowell also come in as two further changes from the team that battered Japan.
Farrell is not the only centurion on the pitch, however, as Brodie Retallick is in for the All Blacks to clock up his three-figures. The lock is among a host of changes to the side that beat Scotland, including Aaron Smith and Richie Mo’unga returning as the first choice half-backs. TJ Perenara, whose entrance from the bench last week was the catalyst for victory stays among the subs to offer impact once again
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Sam Simmonds, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Will Stuart, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Guy Porter, 23 Henry Slade
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Scott Barrett, 5 Samuel Whitelock (Captain), 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Shannon Frizell, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 David Havili, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
Preamble
Welcome to Twickenham, where the not quite as mighty as they used to be All Blacks are in town to take on England, who are not without some issues of their own.
Eddie Jones’s men followed up their narrow loss to Argentina by walloping Japan last week, proving again that whatever their current malaise, there’s no better team at bullying on a flat track.
New Zealand, meanwhile, had a minor scare vs Scotland before the bench came on to make the result relatively comfortable even if the whole performance made All Blacks fans anything but.
So what we have here is two misfiring teams chopping and changing selections week to week looking to put in their best performances of the Autumn to win the big one. On one level it’s intriguing to see if it can be done and by who; on another, both sets of fans could be gritting their teeth and still asking questions come the end.
