Join host Alex Chapman with special guests Buck Shelford & Michaela Blyde as they review the New Zealand v England semi-final. VIDEO/Spark Sport/RWC/Mark Mitchell/allblacks.com/Photosport/Gettyimages
COMMENT:
Yokohama's field of dreams turned into a nightmare scene for the All Blacks, their quest for three successive World Cup titles ending abruptly in England's smothering hands.
England thoroughly deserves this victory, their first over the All Blacks at World Cups and one that ends an incredible 18-match unbeatenrun in this arena.
Eight years the All Blacks have reigned supreme. Here England dethroned them in the most clinical fashion.
Eddie Jones claimed he had been plotting this match for two-and-a-half years and his tactics sure turned to gold. England dominated the air, the collisions, the breakdown – and they had two tries scrubbed out.
Holding the All Blacks scoreless in the first half, for the second time in more than 20 years, typifies an English performance that was led by supreme defence.
All match they got in the face of the All Blacks. They made big hits, they shut down space on the edge, they rattled the world's best to dump them out of the semifinals.
The All Blacks pride themselves on adapting and adjusting but they had few answers to get around the English wall. Not until the 57th minute did they score their first points and even that Ardie Savea try came from Jamie George's overthrown lineout.
Discipline proved costly for the All Blacks and, try as they did, they could not wrestle back momentum. England just kept coming.
Forced to chase the game under pressure, the All Blacks pushed passes off the deck that didn't go to hand. They made errors elsewhere, too. Everywhere they looked, another white jersey appeared.
Whatever the All Blacks threw at them, England stood firm. For that alone, Jones deserves immense credit. He's rebuilt this team from the depths of despair after they failed to make it out of the pool at their home World Cup.
England's Mark Wilson celebrates at the final whistle. Photo / Photosport
Defeat will devastate All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, captain Kieran Read and their players. They set the highest of standards and expect to raise the bar every week. Failure to execute here will leave souls shattered.
England's dominance was such that in the final quarter Swing Low Sweet Chariot reverberated around the stadium with a sense of certainty about the result.
Right from the start, though, England made intent clear with their V-shaped formation, the same tactic France employed for the 2011 World Cup final, to oppose the haka. The message was clear: challenge laid down, challenge accepted.
Tactically, England did their homework. They kicked well, targeted certain players and areas and showed patience with ball in hand.
Missed tackles were a major problem for the All Blacks – they dropped off 11 in the opening 25 minutes. England had a clear plan to target Richie Mo'unga, who defends from centre off lineouts. Elliot Daly skipping out of his tackle set up Manu Tuilagi's strike after just 96 seconds.
Henry Slade and Manu Tuilangi of England tackle Sevu Reece in the semifinal. Photo / Getty Images
England controlled the pace and tempo with big ball carriers Billy and Mako Vunipola rumbling forward and some nice switch moves between George Ford and Owen Farrell exploiting the All Blacks.
On defence, the All Blacks rarely contested the breakdown and when they had the ball, they often opted to kick it away. This forced them to defend for long periods.
The All Blacks made breaks through Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett, Sevu Reece and others but England's scrambling defence always stopped the last pass or pushed them into touch.
Tuilagi rushing the midfield also prevented Mo'unga getting the ball to the edge as often as he would like.
At lineout time the All Blacks were expected to dominate with Scott Barrett's selection giving them a fourth jumper.
Instead England pinched throws and they dominated the breakdown, with the 21-year-old Tom Curry and Maro Itoje proving influential there.
England led 10-0 half time but it should have been more.
With composure and clear heads, they gradually kicked clear. Such was the decisive nature of this victory, they will now be favoured to do the same in the final, no matter who they face.
