“That’s the nature of Test rugby” but England’s latest ‘oh so near’ will be the most frustrating yet
England have lost narrowly to New Zealand on three occasions in the last four months
©David Howlett
Looking back on Saturday, the theatre of it all is exactly what Test match rugby should be about.
From the chorus of ‘Swing Low’ which met the haka from the 82,000-strong crowd to a dramatic finish at the Allianz Stadium, England vs New Zealand was the perfect curtain-raiser for the Autumn Nations series.
Tests against the All Blacks are always tight in the English capital, and this was no exception with New Zealand snatching a tense 24-22 win.
An outrageous finish from Mark Tele’a four minutes from time and the perfect conversion from smiling assassin Damien McKenzie proved to be decisive as Steve Borthwick’s side fell short against the All Blacks for a third time in four months.
But it was nearly all so different.
George Ford’s late penalty attempt struck the post and caused chaos. A New Zealand knock-on gave England one more shot.
With a dominant shove in the scrum from New Zealand, Borthwick’s men were on the back foot and after looking so composed from the same position against Ireland in the Six Nations, this time England looked flustered and Ford’s drop-goal sailed wide.
“There's clearly an opportunity to win the game, and there’s some pretty clear things as to why we didn't against a very good New Zealand team,” Borthwick said.
“If you look over the last period of time, the team in those drop-goal situations has been pretty successful. This is the width of a post that a result goes one way or the other, and that's the nature of Test rugby.”
Borthwick is right. Test rugby can be defined by the finest of margins but being on the wrong side of a narrow scoreline is becoming increasingly familiar for England.
In the last three matches against New Zealand, the average margin of victory for the All Blacks has been 3.3 points and even looking back to the Six Nations when England faced France, Borthwick’s men were edged out 33-31 in Lyon.
And that tight and tense narrative came to the fore again on a Saturday, highlighted by the 14-12 scoreline at the break.
New Zealand’s brilliant attacking rugby had given them a 14-6 lead following scores from Tele’a and Will Jordan but it was thanks to the boot of Marcus Smith that kept England in contention at half-time.
After the interval, Smith provided the spark that sent England into the lead as his intercept inside his own 22 ended with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso darting over to become only the fifth-ever player to score in three consecutive Tests against the All Blacks.
Another Smith penalty on the hour sent England into a 22-14 lead, but the Harlequins fly-half was then replaced by Ford when the hosts seemingly looked in control.
Starting scrum-half Ben Spencer was also replaced by Harry Randall and the flurry of England changes seemed to knock them out of their stride.
Momentum swung back in favour of the visitors as McKenzie slotted a penalty which was followed by Tele’a’s converted try.
With three minutes left, Borthwick’s men were desperate to get the win and the reality was the drama was just about to start.
With England in possession, Anton Lienert–Brown was shown yellow for an off-the-ball tackle which the All Blacks had been penalised for on multiple occasions during the game.
However, a TMO intervention showed a high shot from Lienert-Brown in the previous phase leading to an off-field review meaning Ford had the option of two marks to take the penalty attempt from.
He chose the closer option but his kick rattled the woodwork and if England had stayed calmer, Ford’s resulting drop-goal attempt may have sailed over.
Randall’s pass certainly didn’t help Ford but when all is said and done, this was another tale of falling short for England.
In the lead-up to last weekend, England coach Kevin Sinfield was asked whether they needed a big win after a sequence of ‘oh so nears’. “I’m not sure we need it but we’d like it,” he said.
But perhaps that feeling of turning plucky defeats and hard luck stories into a positive outcome has now been amplified.
.jpg "Murley signed a contract extension with Harlequins earlier this month")
