All Blacks defeat only a glitch for England

Autumn Internationals

Twickenham 06/11/10
England 16, New Zealand 26

BRUISED and battered by the bulldozing All Blacks, England’s rugby men won't reflect too long on yesterday's Test loss.

On face value, England were well beaten against New Zealand - bludgeoned on their own turf as the scorecard reads.

But yesterday’s clash with the world’s number one team doesn’t tell us much more than we already know about the All Blacks.

As always, they look like world beaters, but not as profoundly as we have come to expect.

As for England, never has an English team in recent years looked to run the ball from deep as many times as it did yesterday.

England are looking far more potent with the ball in hand, and New Zealand definitely knew about it.

Again, the Annual Autumn Assessment shows Twickenham is always a difficult venue on New Zealand’s tour calendar.

But it has been merely a blip on their radar in recent years that has never taken much undoing.

New Zealand haven’t lost at the home of English rugby since 2002, but they have never really had their work cut out to grind out a win.

This time round, things felt different.

The scoreboard looked similar at half time as New Zealand boasted a 17-3 lead.

But, if England had the patience and respect for the try line as their opponents did, they could have been going in at the break with their heads held high and not facing a two try deficit.

Hosea Gear and Kieran Read had put New Zealand in front early on, but a Dylan Hartley charge in the second half gave England the sniff of a comeback.

England had chances, but they again failed to capitalise on them.

As teams looking to compete for World Cup credentials next year, New Zealand look ready in all departments while England are still nurturing their starting 15.

That isn’t inspiring considering what’s to come in 12 months time in New Zealand, but looking back over the year just gone, England are maturing rapidly.

The All Blacks, on the other hand, aren't striving to stay in touch with the world's best. They want to show the world that nobody can touch them, and they want to shout it from the mountain tops.

But following New Zealand’s disappointment against Australia a week ago, England again exposed holes in the All Blacks guard.

A 26-16 victory over England at Twickenham is no easy feat, an All Black would say. But deep down they know they have left a lot to be desired.

And despite what the critics say, Martin Johnson’s campaign has turned a corner after yesterday's downfall.

For the first time in hours of international rugby at Twickenham, we saw some fire in the English belly; some appetite for the ball and a faster, more passionate England.

For years we’ve seen England stumble over the same pit falls.

Last year, England were self saboteurs against their Southern superiors, hiding behind false game plans and taking no strides, no risks, to outdo their opponents.

Yesterday, England ran the ball. Toby Flood played flat and to the point at fly-half.

Ben Youngs delivered the pill with accuracy and pace. And England’s scrum was out of this world.

There were no boos as England left the field after their beating.

No time to dwell. Only time to pick up the pieces, dust ourselves off, and get on with the wider plan starting next Saturday as the Wallabies rock up at Twickenham with confidence to burn.

They beat Wales 25-16 in Cardiff yesterday, a satifying victory after ending a 10-game losing streak against the All Blacks 26-24 in Hong Kong last week.

However, England are a different beast compared to years past.

Bring on the Green and Gold – we’ve beaten them before, and we will beat them again.