All Blacks 25
England 25
By Liam Napier at Twickenham
England produced a stunning comeback to score three tries in the final nine minutes and turn a gripping Twickenham contest the All Blacks had sewn up on its head.
The All Blacks controlled the vast majority of this match, leading 17-3 at halftime and 25-6 with nine minutes remaining, before three late England tries flipped the result.
In 34 tests dating back to 1905 this is the second draw between these proud rugby nations.
Replacement prop Will Stuart was the unlikely hero for England, claiming two tries, the first with Beauden Barrett sent to the bin in the same movement.
Moments later England fullback Freddie Steward finished a sweeping breakout to spark the 81,000 crowd into full, roaring voice, before Stuart had his second.
England playmaker Marcus Smith nailed the conversion and then kicked the ball out from the restart, leaving the All Blacks in disbelief.
England, having been down and out for much of the match, will gladly take a draw.
For the All Blacks, though, this will be a deflating result they let slip.
Led by their transformed pack, the All Blacks should have altered the complexion of their turbulent season. Instead, they are left to ponder ‘what if’. The chance to provide proof they are transformed slipped through their fingers when it mattered most.
The All Blacks defended brilliantly for 70 minutes.
Multiple times they were called on to desperately defend. Time and again they stood up. In the first half the All Blacks missed one of 57 tackles. Caleb Clarke pulled off two crucial tackles – one try-saver on Manu Tulagi and another on a flying Jonny May. Richie Mo’unga chimed in later by cutting down opposite Smith on the line.
But reduced to 14 men, England came storming back and the All Blacks couldn’t stop the white wave of momentum.
While the All Blacks lineout was inaccurate their dominant scrum and direct carries largely set an impressive platform which laid on tries for Codie Taylor, Dalton Papali’i and Rieko Ioane.
The All Blacks mixed power with precision, offloads with width. Their pick and drive worked well and their maul marched England downfield. Crossfield kicks added balance to their game to create space.
England were on the backfoot throughout – only for the All Blacks to fold in the crucial closing stages.
This year’s All Blacks campaign finishes eight wins, one draw and four defeats to leave question marks hovering over the team nine months out from the World Cup.
The worst of the three successive home losses, the four defeats from their first six tests, are in the rearview mirror but they should have sealed this match.
The All Blacks immediately flipped the script on their last meeting with England, in the 2019 World Cup semifinal, by stealing the march from the outset.
Where the All Blacks pack was steamrolled in Yokohama this time they led the charge. Their pick and drive, as it did against Wales in Cardiff three weeks ago, was prominent to split England through their heart and have them backpedalling.
In a moment he struggled to recover from, with the All Blacks pressuring his box kicking, England halfback Jack van Poortvliet gifted the All Blacks the perfect start when he fired an intercept into Papalii’s hands – the openside cruising 40 metres untouched to the line.
With their pack rolling forward the All Blacks had time to execute a clear plan to pepper the crossfield kick. Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett and Jordie Barrett all targeted wings Mark Telea and Clarke. It didn’t always come off but it often created space and forced England to considered their defensive alignment.
Confidence was high after Papali’i’s early strike and with the pack making consistent inroads the All Blacks turned down a shot at goal that brought rewards with a second try for Taylor. Ten minutes in, leading 14-0, the All Blacks were in complete control.
Such was their dominance the All Blacks could have bagged three tries in the opening 17 minutes but for a Ioane neck roll to deny the third successive strike.
Two penalties for being in front of the kicker and two Mo’unga errors – missing touch and a wayward pass in his 22 – invited England back into the contest.
England turned down two shots at goal in favour of attempting to maul their way to the line. In a sign of just how far they’ve come in that area, though, the All Blacks stopped England in their tracks to leave them with one measly penalty from the first half.
While the opening quarter was all action, the backend of the first half was a bore with at least 10 minutes lost to reset scrums and infringements.
Swing Low didn’t return until the closing stages when the home side pulled off a comeback for the ages.
All Blacks 25 (Codie Taylor, Dalton Papali’i, Rieko Ioane tries, Jordie Barrett 2 cons, pen, Beauden Barrett drop goal)
England 25 (Will Stuart 2, Freddie Steward tries, Owen Farrell pen, Marcus Smith 2 cons, pen)
HT: 17-3
'There was not a lot of trust between us anymore. In fact ... there was zero trust.'
