All Black No 8 Kieran Read in action during this morning's test match against England at Twickenham. Photo / Getty Images
All Black No 8 Kieran Read in action during this morning's test match against England at Twickenham. Photo / Getty Images
The All Blacks beat England 24-21 at Twickenham this morning. Here are a few examples of how the English media reacted after the game.
New Zealand stand firm with 14 to edge out England at Twickenham
England tested New Zealand and made them look ordinary for a period, but they started at a pace they could not sustain and, like the weather, deteriorated ... New Zealand, as is their tendency on tour, did enough. They did no more than they had to in a match that was billed as a potential dress-rehearsal for next year's World Cup final. Neither side will assume anything on this evidence: the All Blacks struggled in the set-pieces and were harried at the breakdown while England wasted two early try-scoring opportunities and their decision-making melted when the match was finely balanced ... The All Blacks make a habit on tour of dominating the third quarter of a match: trailing 14-11 at the interval, they emerged for the second period with a perceptible change of mood, like a parent getting tough having initially indulged a wilful child.
England's progress and positivity must translate to wins in countdown to next year's Rugby World Cup
Towards the end of this watery encounter New Zealand were like a pack of hunters in one of Sir David Attenborough's nature programmes, striking at their prey, working as one, picking England to pieces. The difference between world champions and World Cup hosts is big ... New Zealand seldom look completely comfortable in this huge suburban crater. Their usual fluency eludes them against English stubbornness. Yet these world champion Kiwis will return next year knowing beyond all reasonable doubt that their boot is on the English head. That pattern will take some over-turning by Lancaster's patriots.
Stuart Lancaster's side undone by All Blacks' formidable second-half showing
Same old, same old, sadly. England put in a brave performance against the world champions, just as they have done on four other occasions in the past year, but yet again they came up short ... New Zealand again possessed the players who could influence the match at the appropriate moments. Captain Richie McCaw was omnipresent, if occasionally invisible to the referee at the breakdown, but that has always been the case. Sam Whitelock was mountainous, and Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read were both always rallying points. And Sonny Bill Williams did not disappoint with some moments of magic, including one sublime angle to make a second-half break. With more control from fly-half, where neither Aaron Cruden or Beauden Barrett had distinguished afternoons, New Zealand would have won by much more.
Image 1 of 7: The All Blacks perform the haka prior to kickoff. Photo / Getty Images
Ruthless All Blacks beat England
England fell to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in eight years as New Zealand snuffed out their early threat with a ruthless second-half display ... Jonny May's brilliant try had given Stuart Lancaster's raw side the perfect start, and two Owen Farrell penalties had opened up a three-point lead at the interval. But second-half tries from captain Richie McCaw and replacement Charlie Faumuina were a fitting reward for a dominant display from a dominant All Blacks team.
Tom Fordyce, BBC Sport
All Blacks reign as it pours for England
Close-run losses will not cut it for England in their home World Cup this time next year, so it was a distraught captain Chris Robshaw who knocked on with the last piece of possession as his team strained in vain to rein in a ruthless New Zealand. England's supporters raged at a series of marginal decisions from Welsh referee Nigel Owens that helped the All Blacks gain a foothold in the match, and go on to a fifth consecutive win in this fixture. England led 14-11 at the break, but they made error upon error and suffered a long, slow black death in the second half.
All Blacks show dominance as Stuart Lancaster's men are exposed and out-classed at Twickenham England slumped to their fifth successive defeat against the All Blacks and a fourth in five months. Amid a monsoon at Twickenham, this was a demoralising wash-out for Stuart Lancaster's national team. Following a summer tour of near-misses in New Zealand, this was a step back. The result was entirely justified. While a late penalty-try ensured respectability on the scoreboard, this QBE series opener became a grim mis-match after half-time. England simply ceased to exist as an attacking force, until the horse had bolted. The world champions took an iron grip on proceedings and displayed all their experience and nous. Steve Hansen's men played the conditions far more shrewdly as England floundered deep in their own half. There was all the usual white-shirted courage and endeavour, but when it came to clever decision-making and composure under pressure, they were exposed and out-classed. Chris Foy, Mail Online
