A breakdown of the wins and losses since the All Blacks first took on England in 1905. Video / NZ Herald
The All Blacks and England have clashed on 44 occasions going back to their first meeting during the 1905 Originals tour. In the 109-year history of the two rivals, England have won just eight times.
We rank those eight wins in importance.
1) England 19 All Blacks 7, 2019
Yokohama,Rugby World Cup semifinal, October 26, 2019
An All Blacks side that had struggled to patch the gaps of world-class departures since the previous Rugby World Cup was rendered powerless by a brutal English blitz, as the Eddie Jones-coached pack muscled the defending champions out of the game.
The men in white were utterly dominant from the first whistle to the last, confirming they are one of the few sides in world rugby that can match – and occasionally defeat – the All Blacks for sheer physicality up front. England’s heroes wore the low numbers: Maro Itoje, Joe Marler, Billy Vunipola and Courtney Lawes were immense.
Sadly, they became the fourth side to fall flat one week after beating the All Blacks in a Rugby World Cup knockout game (following France in 1999, Australia in 2003 and France again in 2007) and were soundly beaten 32-12 by South Africa in the final.
The last time England won a game on New Zealand soil may rank up there as one of their greatest of all-time. Down to 13-men for nine minutes, they out-muscled the All Blacks and produced unbreakable defence at a cold and windy Westpac Stadium as Jonny Wilkinson booted the tourists to victory. Wilkinson slotted four from five, with a drop goal, in swirling conditions while opposite Carlos Spencer missed four of his seven attempts. The only time England has recorded back-to-back wins over New Zealand.
The victory gave the England side a huge confidence boost ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Five months later they were world champions.
The 2012 All Blacks entered their final test of the year with a chance to finish the season with an unbeaten record. Over the year that’d beaten Ireland, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Scotland, Italy and Wales, the only blip being a draw with the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Steve Hansen's hopes of a perfect end to the year were dashed when England scored three rapid fire second half tries to Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi between the 54th and 61st minute. It was an astonishing melt-down from an All Blacks side that seemed to hit the wall after a week that saw most of the squad struck down with a bug. They must have felt even worse that they let their guard down at the final hurdle of 2012. A year later the All Blacks completed their perfect season.
All Blacks flanker Liam Messam is brought down by Chris Robshaw and Joe Launchbury. Photo / Photosport
4) England 16 All Blacks 10, 1973
Eden Park, September 15, 1973
England’s only win at Eden Park came at the end of a strange tour where they lost all three build-up games to Taranaki, Canterbury and Wellington. But they managed to turn around their form to beat the All Blacks for just the second time in history. England scored three tries to two against an out of sorts All Blacks side playing in their only home test of the year.
5) England 15 All Blacks 9, 1993
Twickenham, November 27, 1993
After scoring three tries in his debut a fortnight earlier against Scotland, Jeff Wilson was entrusted with the kicking duties, with Matthew Cooper out through injury. It was a big learning experience for Wilson who missed three penalty attempts in the first half as England took a 6-0 lead into the break.
Marc Ellis failed to impress in the No 10 jersey while English debutant Jon Callard kicked four penalties in the victory.
Stu Wilson captained the All Blacks in his last test which saw him join the unfortunate list of captains to never lead the side to victory. Following a 25-25 draw to Scotland the week before, the All Blacks failed to record a test win on the 1983 tour with just their second ever defeat at Twickenham.
A certain Clive Woodward started at centre for the English as fullback William ‘Dusty’ Hare kicked three penalties and a conversion in the six-point win.
7) England 13 All Blacks 0, 1936
Twickenham, January 4, 1936
England’s first ever win over the All Blacks. The hero for England was Alexander Obolensky, a Russian prince whose family fled to England during the 1917 revolution. Obolensky scored two of England’s three tries but the hosts wouldn’t beat the All Blacks for another 37 years.
8) England 31 All Blacks 28, 2002
Twickenham, November 9, 2002
John Mitchell sent an understrength All Blacks squad to Europe at the end of the 2002 season with his side against England featuring five debutants in Steve Devine, Keith Lowen, Keith Robinson, Ali Williams and Andrew Hore, with Danny Lee and Brad Mika coming off the bench in their first tests. Two out of seven isn’t bad, John. The side also featured the likes of Sam Broomhall, Ben Blair, Mark Robinson and was captained by Taine Randell who was previously dumped as skipper earlier in the season.
The All Blacks did have Jonah Lomu (who scored twice), Tana Umaga and Doug Howlett, but it’s fair to rank this England victory quite low. Despite the lack of big names the All Blacks almost pinched victory when Ben Blair made a break down the lefthand touch with two minutes remaining only to be chased down by Ben Cohen.
