NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / Rugby World Cup

2019 Rugby World Cup: Gregor Paul - How England killed the All Blacks' dream

Gregor Paul
By Gregor Paul
Rugby analyst·NZ Herald·
26 Oct, 2019 10:05 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Mark Wilson of England celebrates. Photo / Getty

Mark Wilson of England celebrates. Photo / Getty

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

COMMENT by Gregor Paul in Yokohama

As much as it hurts to see the dream of three successive Rugby World Cups be killed at the hands of an extraordinary rush defence, the All Blacks can only accept their fate with good grace.

England had their number in Yokohama. They had it everywhere, too. From the brilliant Maro Itoje outplaying Brodie Retallick, to Tom Currie owning the breakdown and the men in white, numbers one to 15 being the more physical.

It was England's day and they deserve their moment in the sun now. They reduced the world's best attacking side to a somewhat dishevelled looking, uncertain mis-mash of frantic bad ideas.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They got inside the All Blacks' heads and beat them up mentally. The attack just never functioned. Not the way it was supposed to. Not the way it was revamped to do and maybe the talk of an attacking revolution was premature – defence still wins World Cups.

And maybe, too, we saw a few cracks in the All Blacks psychological armour that haven't been seen for a while.

They looked rattled for much of the game. They looked like they simply didn't know where to run as there were white jerseys everywhere and not one of them missed a tackle.

The nature of the defeat, it being so comprehensive, means it will leave deep scars within the All Blacks. They won't get over it quickly because they were exposed on the biggest stage of all.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

READ MORE:
• Premium - 2019 Rugby World Cup: Gregor Paul - The truth about the All Blacks' experience
• Premium - 2019 Rugby World Cup: Gregor Paul - The England myth All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is eager to expose
• Premium - 2019 Rugby World Cup: Gregor Paul - Why the All Blacks won't crack under Ireland's pressure
• Premium - 2019 Rugby World Cup: Gregor Paul - How All Blacks coach Steve Hansen exposed England coach Eddie Jones

They didn't have what they thought they had and it's never nice to learn that with around a billion-plus people watching.

Discover more

Rugby World Cup

Live: Gone! All Blacks dumped out of World Cup

26 Oct 08:00 AM
All Blacks

Andrew Mehrtens: Memories from the day Jonah redefined rugby

25 Oct 09:13 PM
Rugby World Cup

Expert analysis: ABs v England head to head - Who has best starting XV?

26 Oct 04:00 AM
Sport|rugby

Rare insight: Carter's deeply personal notes before 2015 RWC finals revealed

26 Oct 05:04 AM

But their wounds will heal. In time. That's the All Blacks' way – to come back stronger and better and they will need to.

They will need to look at everything. How they were so so dominated at the breakdown. How they didn't do anything at the lineout.

Mark Wilson of England celebrates. Photo / Getty
Mark Wilson of England celebrates. Photo / Getty

How they missed so many first-up tackles and didn't look after their ball well enough.

These will be long inquiries because England were so much better and they looked the more polished. Their skills were better executed. Their gameplan was better and they must surely now go on to win this World Cup.

They are the best team here. That much shouldn't be disputed now even though they don't yet have the trophy in their grasp.

But if they play like this in the final. No one will stop them. They showed within the first minute that they were not the soft touch Ireland were.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Their defence didn't bend. It didn't flinch and it didn't look apparent at any stage how it could actually be breached.

And this was the big worry for New Zealand. Their whole campaign was built on their attack being sharp enough, clever enough and creative enough to deal with any defence.

They looked like they had the answers when they played South Africa. They definitely looked like they had the answers when they played Ireland. But England, well, there was nothing cooking. There were no answers from the All Blacks.

All Blacks centre Jack Goodhue on attack during the Rugby World Cup semifinal match against England. Photo / Mark Mitchell
All Blacks centre Jack Goodhue on attack during the Rugby World Cup semifinal match against England. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The playbook looked bereft of good ideas. Bereft certainly of the sort of magic combined with precision it would take to cut England open.

It felt a little hopeless. A doomed mission. England were impregnable.

What added to the misery of it all was England's lineout. It didn't look vulnerable in the slightest. They maybe didn't win the variety of ball they wanted, but they still won all their ball which wasn't the case with the All Blacks.

The big switch of slipping Scott Barrett in for Sam Cane didn't work. The lineout didn't function the way it needed to and Currie was the best poacher on the field.

There was nothing the All Blacks threw at England that they didn't see coming. There was nothing that made them think they had too much to worry about whether they played with or without the ball.

It was all England and sitting wisely, quietly in the stand was Eddie Jones, who must have felt with each passing minute that he'd outcoached his old pal.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rugby World Cup

New Zealand

Watch Live : Scott Robertson live with Jason Pine

New Zealand

'Never felt so alone': Foster lifts lid on battles with NZ Rugby bosses

17 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Black Ferns

Woodman-Wickliffe on babies, books, broadcasting and King’s Birthday honour

02 Jun 03:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rugby World Cup

Watch Live : Scott Robertson live with Jason Pine

Watch Live : Scott Robertson live with Jason Pine

Scott Robertson joins Jason Pine in the Newstalk ZB studio to talk all the big Rugby issues.

'Never felt so alone':  Foster lifts lid on battles with NZ Rugby bosses

'Never felt so alone': Foster lifts lid on battles with NZ Rugby bosses

17 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Woodman-Wickliffe on babies, books, broadcasting and King’s Birthday honour

Woodman-Wickliffe on babies, books, broadcasting and King’s Birthday honour

02 Jun 03:00 AM
‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

08 Apr 06:15 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP