All Blacks had great chance of victory

By WYNNE GRAY

Pinetree stopped and signed autographs as he made his way through the crowded carpark leading to the main gates at Twickenham.

It seemed a little incongruous. Colin Meads, the legendary All Black lock who lives for grassroots rugby, being feted by the rich and very rich, the tweed and burgundy brigade who infest Twickers.

The prestigious committee carpark behind the West Stand began filling five hours before the test started. The BMWs, Mercedes and Land Rovers piled in, boots lined with racks of food and drink. Tables were assembled with legs of beef, lamb and ham, vegetables and desserts.

It was very swanky. It was another world, or at least half a globe away, from the New Zealand way.

It was a tradition for people such as Peter Plumley, a veterinary surgeon from Ross-on-Wye, 150km away in Herefordshire, who has been making his way to his regular spot for the past 15 years.

As a mate of RFU president Derek Morgan, his name is permanently on the invitation list.

"I can swing it to come to the All Blacks and Wallabies matches, but South Africa will have to miss out, I have to work that weekend," he said.

"It doesn't matter what the weather is, we still get here early. We go to the supermarket on the way, then come to the ground and stay here until the light runs out.

"Once, they gave us the key to lock up on our way out. We'd like to be doing that again."

A late exit was in the offing for Plumley and his carpark cronies after England beat the All Blacks for the first time in a decade to stretch their unbeaten streak at Twickenham to 16.

About 75,000 spectators trekked in for the ground's first £3 million ($9.6 million) gate to watch England hold on for a 31-28 victory, nervously repelling a series of All Black attacks in the last 10 minutes.

When referee Jonathan Kaplan blew fulltime, it took Clive Woodward a nano-second to get out of his seat, lean over the nearby partition and shake the hands of the All Black coaching staff.

He rubbed John Mitchell's shiny head to acknowledge that England had escaped a mighty reversal against a dogged new visiting side.

Woodward turned, went back to his side and covered his face with his hands. He was a relieved man, grateful his side had sneaked away to a 31-14 lead soon after the break and then been able to hang on. It was a result most expected, but it had taken much more toil than England wanted.

They had coughed up four tries to their three and been taken to the wire by the tyros of Twickenham. England had their fifth win in 97 years of test rugby against the All Blacks; Woodward his first against New Zealand as a coach.

The strain showed later as Woodward tried to be gracious, but let slip several digs at the visitors.

Was it a victory with defects? Woodward was asked.

"I was told by our friends all week it is about winning," he replied. "We won. I think the better team won, it was a winning dressing-room.

And, in reference to Andrew Mehrtens' remark earlier in the week about English arrogance: "I am not downbeat, but I don't want to be seen as an arrogant Englishman."

It was a shame, Woodward added, that Mehrtens "did not do his talking on the pitch."

Despite the acid remarks, many of his players later confessed they were hanging on for the final whistle.

The conditions were perfect as fireworks signalled the countdown to the start.

There was a minute's silence in memory of all those who died in the two World Wars before the crowd let loose.

The All Blacks haka was swamped by the crowd's Swing Low Sweet Chariot as the ground attendants rolled up huge swathes of red cloth forming the cross of St George.

Jonny Wilkinson kicked off, debut All Black lock Keith Robinson retrieved - it was a tidy start to what was to be a pulsating but error-strewn contest.

Down by two penalties, the All Blacks worked Jonah Lomu into the corner. England's nemesis had made the opening strike after choosing to stay silent in the build-up to the international.

But a reply came in the last phase of the half when outstanding England flanker Lewis Moody scored after Joe McDonnell slipped in the man-on-man defence.

It must have come as a shock to the ground announcer, because he called it a try to centre Will Greenwood.

Rearrangements came at halftime, including the loss of first five-eighths Carlos Spencer, who damaged a shoulder.

The All Blacks did not switch back into full concentration quickly enough, conceding converted tries to Wilkinson and Ben Cohen.

It was a game of catch-up from there. Lomu smashed through for another of his special touchdowns, replacement halfback Danny Lee dummied over for another and, with 10 minutes left, England was sliding towards the quicksand.

Ben Blair was cut down in the corner, Andrew Hore was stopped in the shadow of the posts, another attack scrambled out for a five-metre lineout.

Two minutes remaining, with the chances of an All Black lineout drive, a penalty, a dropped goal or some backline wizardry.

But the lineout, which had worked well for most of the test, faltered as the same set piece had folded against the Wallabies at Wellington in 2000 and Sydney a year later.

Hore admitted later he did not think England would compete and he threw short rather than overshoot his intended target, Ali Williams. Ben Kay intercepted, England cleared and were soon celebrating.

The All Blacks left the arena knowing they had missed a great chance to win. "A defeat at Twickenham is not good at all," Mitchell said. "We are not content, never will be."

Did he think New Zealanders back home would be disappointed?

"Yes, I would not want it to be any other way. We set standards and we did not deliver."

England might do well to make a similar assessment even in victory, though Woodward did accept his side had played well for only half-an-hour.

As those verdicts were delivered in the corridors of power, Plumley and his comrades partied on. The Chariot was set for a slow ride home.