By WYNNE GRAY
All Black lock Ali Williams has survived a stomping charge, but seasoned halfback Justin Marshall will not return until at least the Tri-Nations series.
A judicial committee yesterday cleared Williams of foul play, and there were also medical clearances for backs Leon MacDonald and Aaron Mauger, who will assemble this week for the test with Wales.
Marshall tore his hamstring as he died with the ball near the England posts, unwilling or unable to pass to several team-mates for a try which would have exposed England.
His exit brought the lively Steve Devine on to Westpac Stadium and has meant a squad return for halfback Byron Kelleher for the next test, against Wales on Saturday in Hamilton.
Those changes were organised yesterday as the All Blacks assessed the damage from the 15-13 loss to England, their second consecutive defeat by the Grand Slam champions.
As the senior staff of John Mitchell, Robbie Deans and Reuben Thorne came to give their version to the media conference on Saturday, the lights went out in the converted indoor cricket nets area.
England had already been and gone, happy with their victory and certain, as coach Clive Woodward said, that if the two sides met again at the World Cup the result would once more favour the men in white.
Defence, guts, determination - they were all reasons given for England's second test victory on New Zealand soil.
England were pragmatic. They coped best with the wind, the pressure, the vagaries of three poor match officials, and found the avenues to win.
Jonny Wilkinson was off his game but goaled some marvellously crucial penalties and slid a drop goal over.
England smothered, scraped and scrambled for any possesion, and when they lost it, made it awkwardly slow for the All Blacks.
They competed every centimetre of this intense, if messy, contest.
Too often it seemed Richard McCaw was a lone All Black opponent.
His support was nothing like that offered from England's Martin Johnson, Richard Hill or Lawrence Dallaglio.
England played smart. "We had to slow the ball down to get our defence in order. We had to get that right to slow down their midfield and elsewhere because their back three had pace to die for," Dallaglio said.
Even when England were two short in the pack - punished, rightly, as Dallaglio admitted, for professional fouls - they countered the All Black eight.
That was more embarrassing than some of the first-half errors from both sides. This was the moment when England should have conceded the lead, and the All Blacks should have made their numerical advantage pay. Neither circumstance happened.
On a night when the All Black lineout functioned well and messed up their opposites, when the scrum did their job, apart from a couple of wobbles, the forwards could not deliver when they had a two-man advantage.
It was a costly mini-slump, when the backs were sloppy for much of the international, when they played with some of the mediocrity the Hurricanes used to bring to the same venue.
One of those men, All Black vice-captain Tana Umaga, may not have many more matches at second five-eighths.
With Spencer the one kicking pivot, England were able to create more pressure on the defence, so that experiment may have to be re-thought. Umaga looks better wider out, and Ma'a Nonu was untidy.
Aaron Mauger is one replacement option, but does not have to be hurried, and Daniel Carter could play at second and offer his left-foot kick on another side of the breakdown.
If Leon MacDonald is both fit and available, his return to fullback, or that of Mils Muliaina, could mean Doug Howlett goes back to the wing after his impressive work in Wellington.
Joe Rokocoko could go to the other wing to rest an uninspiring Caleb Ralph.
There were laments about the goalkicking, the stop-start match, lack of composure, England's stifling forward play and the late anxiety as the All Blacks tried too many individual sorties.
"Psychologically, it will be fantastic for them [England]," coach John Mitchell said.
Privately, the All Blacks would have seethed about the result.
But they would also have thought, if that were the best a seasoned, experienced England combination could throw at the All Black rookies, then the season could only get better.
All Blacks test schedule/scoreboard
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