England produced their best performance of a troubled autumn campaign but it was still not enough to prevent New Zealand from landing their eighth successive victory over their old foe at Twickenham.
The defeat was England’s second of the November Test series and although there was much more commitment and aggression from Martin Johnson’s side, particularly in the first half, it was not enough to bridge the gulf in class between the two sides.
The performance, while not lacking in courage or conviction, will no doubt lead to more questions being asked about England’s attacking prowess.
Just as in the defeat to Australia and unconvincing victory over Argentina, England looked bankrupt of ideas going forward and finished their autumn campaign having scored just one try.
That England were only able to muster two penalties by an out-of-sorts Jonny Wilkinson, and did not score again beyond the 25th minute was an indictment of their inability to cause the All Blacks any problems going forward.
The All Blacks, whose last defeat by England was the15-13 reverse in Wellington in 2003, were simply able to maintain their unbeaten record of their European tour but moving through the gears in the second half, with tries by Jimmy Cowan and two more penalties by Dan Carter, to go with his first-half brace, sealing victory.
Despite losing Joe Worsley as early as the second minute to an ankle injury, England's impressive start to the contest was based on the physicality and line-speed of their defence which managed to instill doubt and hesitation into the All Black play.
Wilkinson set the tone by immediately targeting Sitiveni Sivivatu, and Matt Banahan was able to make thumping tackles on Sivivatu and Conrad Smith.
The mood continued when England captain Steve Borthwick forced a turn-over with a heavy tackle on Jimmy Cowan after Carter had surprisingly squandered an early opportunity when he sliced a simple penalty chance.
England’s aggressive defending almost culminated in a try for Ugo Monye but referee Jonathan Kaplan adjudged that the England wing had knocked the ball on in his tackle on Smith just before he gathered and grounded the ball over the line.
Still, Wilkinson was able to slot a penalty in the 17th minute after Richie McCaw had been penalized for playing the ball on the floor.
Despite a mixed half by Carter, slick hands by the New Zealand fly-half almost created the opening try when he created space for New Zealand full-back Mils Muliaina, who ignored Sivivatu on his shoulder and surged for the line only for Ugo Monye to showed great strength in dragging him into touch.
The moment reinforced the view that while the All Blacks looked to carry the more attacking threat, England had some success in attempting to force the play.
England prop Tim Payne was fortunate to escape a yellow card when he was penalized for throwing two punches at a breakdown, but Carter punished the indiscretion by landing a 45-metre penalty in the 23rd minute to level the scores.
From the restart however New Zealand gifted England the opportunity to regain their lead when Borthwick turned over Muliaina and Jimmy Cowan was penalized, with Wilkinson restoring his side’s lead.
England’s defence continued to force unforced errors with Smith knocking on as Monye shot up but Carter was able to land his second penalty on the half hour mark after James Haskell was penalized for hands in a ruck.
The Stade Francais player quickly made amends by leading a number of charges and England received a let-off when Carter again missed from in front of the posts from a penalty after Duncan Bell had collapsed a scrum to leave the scores locked at the break.
New Zealand were able to seize the momentum after a couple of wayward line-out throws by Dylan Hartley however and Carter was able to nudge New Zealand in front for the first time in the match with a 47th minute penalty.
As Steve Thompson replaced Hartley, it took a great cover tackle by Wilkinson on Zac Guildford to snuff out a dangerous counter-attack by the All Blacks and England, for all their endeavour, continued to lack an attacking threat with ball in hand.
If it felt like England were hanging on, that sense was underscored when New Zealand opened up a 10-point lead with a well-carved out try by Jimmy Cowan in the 59th minute with the interchange with Sivivatu and McCaw carving open England on the narrow side. Carter added the conversion to leave England in danger of being cut adrift.
Yet England’s response inspired hope for the Twickenham crowd, as Wilkinson kicked a penalty to the corner and the pack twice rumbled at the line from the line-out. But crucially Wilkinson missed a drop-goal attempt from in front of the posts after another surge by Haskell when more patience could have been rewarded with a try.
After Muliaiana had cruised through a huge gap between Wilkinson and Shane Geraghty, it took another cover tackle by Paul Hodgson to prevent Smith extending the All Blacks’ lead but Carter turned the screw with his fourth penalty in the 67th minute.
If Tom Croft had been able to finish off a late surge to the line, England could have forced a dramatic finale, but the attacking platform was lost when New Zealand were able to disrupt their opponents’ five-metre scrum.
And although Geraghty at last brought some much-needed vim to England’s back play in the final minutes, New Zealand were able to close the game out.
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