All Blacks complete stage 3 of Grand Slam but only just against a valiant England

The All Black juggernaut continued its victorious trek across the United Kingdom and Eire with a narrow victory over England. In the run up the match, no pundit gave England the faintest hope of stopping another 40 point drubbing from the men in black. Fortunately, Martin Corry and his men didn't see it that way and as a result the match was a cracker.

After the final whistle, I elected not to write the review and instead mull over what I had seen. As a result, I saw Nicholas booted out of the X Factor (Conway Sisters you are lucky lucky girls!) and some bloke called Will booted off Strictly Come Dancing. The joys of having an 8 year old daughter!! Yet the time was well spent as my subconscious was beginning to fathom out what I did and didn't enjoy from England's performance.

I didn't enjoy the haka at all - that new one is distateful in the extreme - do I really need to watch a throat cutting gesture? And message to Sky - I really don't want to watch a repeat during Land of Hope and Glory? No - I don't want either. I want to watch a game of rugby!

Wow what a start!!

The start was electric - a poor clearance kick from the England start saw Cueto running back at the All Blacks. Quick recycled ball and a flat pass from Hodgson and Phil Vickery charged up field. From the ruck, Hodgson put the ball into touch with a deft kick at the All Black 7 metre line. From the line-out, the England forwards drove the All Blacks back, Kelleher took the ball as it squirted out - Thompson like a flash had him in his sights and supported by Corry tackled Kelleher.

Then Matt Dawson did what I wanted him to - first Mauger took too long and Dawson charged down his box kick and then Dawson followed up by hassling Dan Carter as the ball shot back towards him. Carter batted the ball into touch in the in goal area. England penalty! There are only a couple of minutes on the clock .

To a roar from the England supporters, Captain Corry takes the fight to the All Blacks. Secure ball from the line-out - Thompson to Borthwick and the drive was on - at 3 minutes and 10 seconds England's captain scored. Hodgson slotted the conversion. I'm feeling smug thinking of my preview - put pressure on Dan Carter and Aaron Mauger I said!!

Of course, test matches last 80 minutes and England had a long way to go. But the signs were bright - the cool All Blacks were looking decididly rattled - poor handling and missed passes were littering the Twickenham pitch. The first scrum on the New Zealand 10 metre line resulted in a victory for Phil Vickery as Woodcock was pinged for driving down. But England weren't making the most of these trangressions - Wally lost the line-out with a very poor throw, Grewcock took out a player in midfield, Moody came in from the side.

The All Blacks try came from some sublime passing between Carter and Umaga - 'a touch forward' read the notes but it was a great break. Note to Hodgson play to the whistle - he wouldn't have got to Umaga but I don't like to see players stop. Mr Lewis didn't see it as forward and that's what counts! Carter slots over the conversion - 7-7. 16 minutes. Game on!

The English tackling was crisper than last week - great work from Pat Sanderson following up Tindall's tackle on Umaga earned England a penalty which Charlie Hodgson slotted over. 10-7

The next 10 minutes worth of notes are a series of trading blows - two penalties saw the score move to 10 all. The English ball was not moving fast enough for my liking when the ball did get to the wings - the likes of Carter were too quick for Mark Cueto in his lovely silver boots (ugh!). As if to demonstrate the point a break started by Kelleher from a Borthwick knock on came within a squeak of a try from the All Black captain - Cohen as in 2002 put in a magnificent try saving tackle stopping Umaga - his desperate pass was knocked in the in goal area by Chris Masoe.

By 20 minutes I noticed that the notes hadn't featured Josh Lewsey at all - right on cue he caught a magnificent high ball from which England mounted an attack which came to nothing. I'm not sure what role Josh is being asked to play but we rarely see him hitting the line at pace and yesterday was no different. The attack came to nothing and the All Blacks again came back at England. The scrum was looking messy - too often the All Blacks got to our our back row or isolated Dawson. The kicking from hand from both sides was awful - Carter, Hodgson, Mauger and Cueto all managed horrible kicks which did nothing except break up the game.

On 34 minutes from a fluffed 22 metre line restart the All Blacks ran the ball - the interplay between Carter and Umaga was magnificent. The break contnued with Muliaina and Howlett taking the ball up to the England 22 metre line. A pass to Tony Woodcock found Steve Thompson putting yet another crunching tackle. But Woodcock got the ball away to Chris Jack. The play eventually broke down when Doug Howlett knocked on. From the England scrum, Pat Sanderson broke down the wing - Cohen followed taking the ball at pace. But Collins and Jack had him covered. Now this when I was my most frustrated - where was the support? Where was rest of the back row? Where were the centres? The result was an All Blacks penalty and a good opportunity wasted. The All Blacks attacked again but to no avail - Borthwick turned Sivivatu brilliantly - the Waikato wing gave away a penalty and Hodgson cleared up field.

Half time arrives - a magnificent half of test rugby had ended with the All Blacks narrowly in the lead. The game was being played in great spirit as evidenced by a pat on the back from Tindall to Umaga as they entered the tunnel. Alan Lewis was having a great game - he was clear and consistent and rightly warned both captains when required.

Second half and the All Blacks came at England at 90 miles an hour - Tindall dithered with the clearance fom inside his 22 but somehow England managed to get the ball away. Having made ground Dawson gave the initiaitive back to the All Blacks by kicking the ball against Thompson's bum! A comical accidental offside.

Then my notes make reference to the only time the All Blacks wheeled the scrum - Thompson penalised for standing up - Carter missed the penalty but still the All Blacks came at England with geogeous interplay between backs and forwards. A break was held up on the line but Mealamu was not to be denied. Carter converted 10-20.

Then the red mist seem to fall for the All Blacks - Woodcock put a stupid late tackle on Hodgson - a warning from Mr Lewis and 3 points from the boot of Hodgson were the appropriate response. England came back again at the All Blacks with Borthwick stealing Mealamu's throw but Sanderson knocked on. From the scrum Cohen cleared only for Kelleher to put the ball back into the England 22. Hodgson saw space and ran the ball passing it to Lewsey. He put in a very poor pass into touch with a frustrated Cueto outside him. From the line-out the All Blacks took their turn to attack - England should have had the scrum but instead it went to New Zealand and frustratingly Dawson went offisde - having been warned only seconds earlier about the same offence. Carter converted the penalty. 10-23.

55 minutes and still England were trying to get back into the game - Hodgson was creamed again but up he got and kicked for touch, the All Blacks having been penalised for not rolling away. From the line-out, England drove straight at the All Blacks - the maul was moving quicklty towards the All Blacks' try line when Woodcock pulled it down. Yellow card number 1. Again England drove from the line-oout but this time the All Blacks put in some magnificant defence - despite England getting the ball out wide - Kelleher turned the ball over.

Tailata came on as a front row replacement - Masoe went off to keep warm. The play was now scrappy with Tindall being the worst offender knocking on and then seconds later attempting a ridiculous pop pass the Hodgson.

Hodgson was felled again this time a high tackle by Tialata but England gained the penalty for New Zealand coming in at the side. Hodgson again took the penalty 16-23.

Still England pressed - Noon drove the ball into touch on the New Zealand 22. Mealamu threw way too long and Moody snaffled the ball. Drive after drive came in from Sheridan, Noon, Sheridan - the ball was taken up by Dawson who drove fearlessly at the All Black defence. Tialata killed the ball and Mr Lewis went to his pocket again - "Cynical and professional' said Mr Lewis and I agree. Yellow card No 2. Mr Lewis had warned the players about killing the ball - Tialata and Woodcock paid the price.

This is when I think Martin Corry made a crucial mistake - Woodcock was still off and now the All Black pack was down to six men - we should have gone for the line-out one more time. Instead, we got 3 points from the boot of Hodgson. 19-23. Woodcock came back on - from the restart England drove beautifully through the midfield only to lose the ball by taking it to ground and not recycling it. The All Blacks attacked - Kelleher having one last go, Mauger took the wrong option by chip to Lewsey who called the mark. Again from the line-out the All Blacks attacked - they took the ball up field but lost the ball and Dawson hacked through. Thompson and Lewsey haired up field with first Mauger and then Sivivatu attempting to get the ball away and failing. Dawson was screaming for the ball only to apologise to a smiling Alan Lewis when England were awarded the scrum. But the All Blacks weren't done yet - back they drove the English and went on to the attack. Cohen cleared.

Stephens came on for Sheridan and Rokocoko for Sivivatu. The All Blacks weren't done and attacked across England's 22 but neither were the English with a brilliant tackle from Thompson who turned Tony Woodcock, gaining England a precious penalty. Back chat gained England another 10 metres. It was wasted because despite winning the line-out - Tindall tried his silly pop pass again. Fleetingly the All Blacks were back to 15 players - they won the scrum and attacked again but turnover ball and Thompson and Cohen were on the charge. Now you would have thought the All Blacks would have learned their lesson - both Lewis and Umaga had both lectured the players. But no, Chris Masoe played the ball on the floor with his hands and Mr Lewis had to go to his pocket a third time - Yellow Card No. 3.

The last few minutes were frantic as drive after drive were repelled - Sanderson, Grewcock, Borthwick tried again and again to get the ball forward. The All Blacks defence was impregnable. At the last scrum the ball was desparately scrambled wide to Cohen but to no avail. The All Blacks had won a magnificent contest.

As for England - the pack can again hold their heads up high - Borthwick was outstanding in the line-out and brilliant in the lose, Sanderson took his opportunity in the lose, the front row were all over the park - how the likes of Sheridan and Thompson could chase and follow-up they way they did I don't know. Moody grew in stature as the game went on - I'd like to have seen more hassle on Carter (especially after the events of the first few minutes). Corry drove time and time gain through the midfield - he marshalled his troops and but for one error could have been the winning captain. Grewcock is at last proving to be an international asset - one minor abberation in the first half aside he took the ball to the All Blacks and drove time and time again.

But and there has to be a but - the midfield is all wrong - at the moment the backs have no understanding of each other - Tindall made too many silly errors and again the ball was too slow to the wings. Dawson was better than against the Australians but still the ball moved too slowly. Cohen and Cueto are first wing picks for me - Lewsey isn't happy at full-back and Noon isn't being used right. More work is required and we can only hope the form of the likes of Ollie Smith and Stuart Abbott puts pressure on the current centre places incumbents.

My hope is the England team learned a valuable lesson about the All Blacks - there were times when they looked brittle and nervous. I want the England boys to remember that for the next time.

And so to the Samoans - more lessons to be learned, more things to be tried - bring it on!

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