All Blacks beat England in dour test
BY MARC HINTON IN LONDON
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The All Blacks rumble on and poor old England stumble on, though at least Martin Johnson's men were able to make a lot more of a game of it at Twickenham today than their critics were predicting.
In the end the All Blacks, still playing as though they've left their handbrake on, were comfortable 19-6 winners as they kept alive a couple of remarkable records in these autumn internationals.
They still haven't lost in one of these November test matches since Graham Henry took charge in 2004, and they kept their line intact for another international in a run up here which stretches back to 2006. Defensively, these All Blacks are right on top of their game.
The same can't quite be said of the black attack, which once again managed just one try in 80 minutes of rugby, and despite a succession of promising raids, the final pass or the key break just couldn't be made. Once more you were left with a suspicion that despite their success, these New Zealanders still have a long way to go on the improvement chart.
Still, this is test rugby. And as the All Blacks told us in the buildup, it's about winning first and foremost. By doing so with a degree of comfort today the New Zealanders not only retained the Hillary Shield but left English rugby with another week of navel-gazing.
You suspect it won't be as bad, or as mad, as it was post last week's 16-9 win over Argentina, for the English contributed plenty to a pretty competitive test match. But they really were a distant second in this contest and their limitations on attack were once again severely exposed.
Apart from one break from a messy scrum in the second half by Tom Croft (hauled in eventually by a fine Dan Carter cover tackle), the English never really looked like scoring.
But at least they weren't booed by their own fans this week. And that might be the only consolation Johnson and his men take from a match that was mostly about respect for them, rather than any real chance of winning. That was never ever a prospect.
On a milestone occasion, with Mils Muliaina becoming the second most capped All Black of all time (joining Justin Marshall on 81 caps) and Carter passing Andrew Mehrtens as the greatest points-scorer in All Black history, the New Zealanders had it all to play for.
Muliaina responded with a splendid match too, the fullback joining his skipper Richie McCaw as the outstanding figure on the park. The All Black No 15 was a constant attacking threat, and looked back to his best. Zac Guildford also had another promising test over on the right wing, where he very much won his individual battle with Ugo Monye, while Sitiveni Sivivatu made things happen whenever he got involved, which was a lot.
Up front the All Black scrum had a wobble or two, the lineout functioned smoothly again and Kieran Red weighed in with another strong test at No 8. That jersey looks his now for the long haul.
Still, if you had read the British press in the buildup to this fourth test of the All Blacks' tour, the New Zealanders had only to arrive at Twickenham to maintain their perfect record on this trip.
The English, their critics reckoned, were so out of sorts, bereft of either the nous or the skills to break down the All Blacks, that it was thought it wouldn't be so much a game as a shame.
A week earlier the English had been booed off Twickenham at halftime by their own fans when the scores were locked at 9-9 against Argentina, but seven days later they got a much more wholesome reception as they jogged off locked at 6-6 and very much in this encounter with an All Blacks side still searching for its attacking A game.
England lost Joe Worsley in just the third minute with an ankle injury, but the early disruption didn't appear to affect Johnson's men to any great degree as they managed to stifle the All Blacks attacking game through the opening quarter.
After Carter missed a handy early penalty attempt – the Kiwi sharpshooter had a pretty average first half with the boot by his high standards – Jonny Wilkinson made no mistake with his opening penalty a little after a quarter of an hour of action.
And that's how the scoring played out for the half. Carter drew the All Blacks level, Wilkinson nudged England back in front again and Carter evened the ledger again, though he also missed a pretty kickable effort late in the half that should have given his team a halftime lead.
The All Blacks looked far the more likely on attack throughout the opening half, but found the final pass or the final tackle beyond them as they failed to cash in on a half-dozen or so useful forays. Muliana went the closest when he was just bundled into touch by Monye's cover tackle midway through the spell.
The English were forced to make nearly twice as many tackles in the half, but to their credit they nailed all the ones that counted as they went into the sheds knowing they were very much in this game.
And so it continued in the second spell. The All Blacks constantly threatening, the English disrupting, clinging on. Something had to give.
The decisive score of the second half came, inevitably, to the All Blacks shortly after the quarter-hour mark when, finally, the finishing touches were applied. The forwards had rumbled it up beautifully, going three, four phases and when ball went left Sitiveni Sivivatu popped a great pass between two defenders, McCaw played hot potato and halfback Jimmy Cowan was over. Carter's sideline conversion, following his early penalty, put the New Zealanders out to 16-6.
There was time for Carter to add one more penalty on a mixed afternoon for the superboot, and for that cast-iron All Black defence to repel one or two more raids from the home side.
And that was that. The All Blacks continue to cut, if not a swathe, certainly a pretty comfortable path through the north once again. France now awaits, and what shapes as a true battle of the hemispheres. It will not be this comfortable in Marseille.
England 6 (Jonny Wilkinson 2 pens), New Zealand 19 (Jimmy Cowan try; Dan Carter 4 pens, con). Ht: 6-6.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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Anybody older than 25 will remember that rugby Tests used to be like this. Tough forward battles, courageous defence, a few breaks, and usually only 1-3 tries.
We've been spoiled over the last few years because the ABs were so far ahead of the pack, but through defections we've got a bit weaker, while other teams have learned how to defend against us. We are still winning the close ones though and just need to raise the bar a bit more. It was stirring stuff to see the forwards go right through the heart of the England pack like a German panzer unit to set up Cowan's try. Some good signs that we can do more than jsut run kicks back and are actually starting to read the game on the field, and the younger guys have the confidence to try something different. Speaking of whom, we need a bit more screening on the blindside or at least communication so he knows there's a man on and just get rid of the pill.
And to be fair, after 2007 and the series this year the boys have only had one game in mind on this tour. Mils even said afterwards that they had been really looking forward to playing France. Great stuff by Mils too, under great pressure and he delivered. And maybe he should have scored that try, but a bit of credit to England's defence wouldn't go amiss. They scrambled well throughout the game, just lack any sort of direction on attack.
What a bunch of boorish comments so far (spike excluded)!!
It wasn't the flashiest game but was good to see the AB's dominant again, much like they were against Wales. Go the AB's!!
Why is stuff.co.nz so all over the place? This headline reads Abs beat England in dour test, only to be followed by headlines claiming the AB backline has finally sparked, and have had their best game on tour. C'mon Hinton. Pull it together.
A pretty "dodgy" win.
I had to make special arrangements to see this game on tele in Aus(ie, pay $30 to see it on Setanta because it wasn't shown on Foxtel), and now am questioning whether it was actually worth it.
Where has the AB's attack 'mojo' gone? Have we now allowed a failed forwards coach to take over from a back's/attack coach that was patently not up to the grade over the past 2 years??
Jimmy Cowan needs another gear (or more cylinders) in his brain if there is to be any substantive change. In my opinion, the half back cannot run 3 paces before he passes the ball (or tries to make up his mind what he's going to do). And while he might reasonably expect more protection from his forwards, he got caught in possession before passing at least 3 or 4 times (because I think he was just too slow making up his mind what he wanted to do).
Without quick ball from the ruck/maul/set piece - the back line has no chance to perform. Fundamental stuff!
A ho-hum game where we weren't troubled at all by an opposition backline and mindset determined to keep the score down as opposed to win the game. It is just unbelievable that England perform the way they do, in that they offer nothing, NOTHING, with ball in hand save for some grunty forward play. They are awful. They don't even try short passing rushes after pick and goes, its a 3 man pod into contact several times, spin it to Wilkinson who punts it down to us. Ugh.
Next week will be a different matter - the French play with a bit of us and a bit of SA. Our midfield will have to be sharper with ball in hand, Cowan wil need to pass quickly instead of taking 2 steps and Read and Thomson will have to put their hand up for some hard yards. We do lack a big runner in our loosies...
The Charge: Bring the game into disrepute. The defendent, England! The acusation; Never in the history of Rugby have we seen a winner of the rugby world cup fail or lose in such a consistant or convincing manner. The co-defendent, IRB Referees, mate we have done everthing within the rules to level the the playing field. The co-co-defendent, the IRB, mate we have changed the southern hemisphere rules every year but it has no efect, the ABs always win unless we employ incompetent refs, but after the french "hand of frog" outcry we realise the that the best team may actualy have to win the New Zealand Rugby World Cup.
What? barely any mention of sivivatu? I thought he looked the most dangerous of the all black backs. every time he ran with the ball it looked like the all blacks where likely to break the line
hi all blacks i love you.
jimmy cowan is the worst a.b halfback i have ever seen, andy ellis isnt much beta, bring liam in to the side, at least on the bench, we need more x factor guys
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@Pete #26 Are you mad? Cowan is absolute rubbish!! He seems to spend more time with his hands up in the air looking at the ref instead of clearing the ball quickly. If he did then maybe he wouldn't get 'owned' all the time!! He looks lost and if he cleared the ball from the scrum as quickly as he off loads it when running (norm has it for 5 secs!) then maybe we wouldn't have such a problem. He doesn't bring anything to the AB's game and is a liability. GET RID OF HIM!!!!