By Mike
June 27 2014

I would like to have thought that perhaps some neutrals may find themselves supporting England for once in the build up to this third test. After all, who wants to see a side win SEVENTEEN games on the bounce? It’s boring.

New Zealand, for the last 2/3 years, have seemed so far ahead of everybody that they may as well be brought down a peg or two, right? Well, possibly, but I don’t think anyone apart from the English wanted the English to be the ones to knock the kings from their thrown, a notion that was confirmed by the sight of an enthusiastic Welshman in a pub (tucking into a full English, ironically) who declared, before the gam, “Bacon and a battering of the English – a perfect start to the day”. Perhaps he should have saved his smugness until after his side had played South Africa, but the sentiment still stood.

The fact was that despite two tests where England had – for long periods of the game – matched and even bettered their opponents, there were two defeats on the board. The inability to finish chances on a regular basis was continually being brought into the spotlight, and rightly so. But with injuries and form dictating selection in such a way that this was arguably Lancaster’s strongest line-up of the Tour, was this to be the game where they finally made the step up into the league which only the All Blacks themselves occupy?

Er, no, in a way. The omens were bad for England from the start as Freddie Burns first miscued his kick off so it dropped short and then missed a relatively straightforward (albeit long range) attempt after Ben Youngs and Chris Robshaw had burgled the ball off Kieran Read at the ensuing scrum. And the All Blacks made them pay immediately, as Ma'a Nonu, Corey Jane and Aaron Smith all offloaded well in the midfield – taking advantage of a loose pass – to put Julian Savea away on the left, with the big winger evading Mike Brown's despairing tackle as he plunged over. Aaron Cruden couldn't add the extras, but now we knew – the All Blacks meant business.

Burns got his side on the score sheet following a penalty for offside from the kick off, but soon the hosts were at it again as Nonu sucked Kyle Eastmond in with a good running line, allowing Cruden to scoot through a gap and fire a pass out to that man Savea, who stepped inside the cover to crash over. We'd barely had 10 minutes and, after Cruden's conversion, the scoreline sat at 12 – 3. Not a good start, but it could have been a lot worse, as the Kiwis – and in particular, Cruden – found holes through England's midfield time and again, with Eastmond continuously stepping in when it wasn't required. Only a marginal forward pass call as Savea slid over yet again saved England from the embarrassment of having a hat-trick scored against them after 15 minutes – the last time that happened, there was a certain Mr Lomu on the pitch.

Burns and Cruden then exchanged penalties before things finally did get worse for England, with Billy Vunipola being harshly shown a yellow card for a slightly high – but clumsy – challenge. The Kiwis needed no second invitation. Playing of quick ball thanks to a strong charge from Malakai Fekitoa, the All Blacks attacked the short side, where Jane left Marland Yarde for dead with a right foot step and fed Aaron Smith, who just had enough gas to avoid Manu Tuilagi and score in the corner for a mesmeric try which Cruden converted.

England were ragged, stunned, outplayed. The All Blacks were fluent, cohesive and incisive…and they weren't done. Despite holding a 22 – 6 lead, they charged straight back at England at cut through them again, with Ben Smith getting outside Burns and selling a dummy to Yarde to scoot through a gap, before feeding Aaron Smith for his second score. Once again, Cruden made no mistake, and England were looking at a dead game in which they would be lucky to keep the score under 70.

Still New Zealand attacked, and England prayed for the half-time hooter – although their defence did hold and they managed a scare of their own, as quick thinking from Youngs sent Chris Ashton away from his own 22. The winger kicked ahead, and the attack came to nothing – but it relieved the pressure and the visitors were happy to go in at 'just' 29 – 6 down. Surely it couldn't get any worse?

Luckily, Stuart Lancaster must have said something at half times – or the All Blacks understandably cracked open the champers – because England roared out of the blocks in a manner that at least resembled the energetic displays they’d put in previously in the two tests. Joe Launchbury, who had previously seemed so weary, got on the outside of Liam Messam (on for the rusty Read) and offloaded back to Youngs, who scorched through the gap and stepped past Ben Smith before offloading to Tuilagi, the big centre barrelling his way to within a metre of the line. From there, Marland Yarde picked up and buried himself over for possibly the closest range score of his life, but Burns’ conversion gave the visitors a glimmer of hope. It may not have been entirely realistic hope, but it was hope none the less.

England Ben Youngs - All Pictures Empics

But suddenly the game didn’t seem beyond reach. Youngs – who had started the second half in electric form, having been a rare positive for England in the first 40 – put Yarde through another gap, only for the winger to be held up over the line by desperate All Blacks defence, and then the scrum half darted through another gap himself to propel his side before the line. But on both occasions, the opportunities came to nothing – a wheeled scrum, the rare sight of Tom Wood being stripped of the ball in contact (by a winger) and awful handling from Luther Burrell all conspired to make sure that England didn’t come away with anything. It was typical of the series. England had started the second half like New Zealand started the first, but where the hosts had 3 tries, the visitors had 1 – the killer instinct just wasn’t there.

The All Blacks clawed their way into the game and up the pitch thanks to a superb Nonu kick, but Burrell was at least providing a more reliable figure in defence than Eastmond, whom he had replaced at half-time. Strong defence from Robshaw and Tuilagi made sure the hosts – even Julian Savea – were kept out, but they were left to rue poor handling again when Youngs spotted acres of space out wide and fed Hartley on his own 5 metre line. The hooker had Ashton outside him with the whole pitch to play with, but the hooker – usually such an assured handler – threw an embarrassingly poor pass forward and into touch. It summed up England’s day.

Marland Yarde

The men in white did have their moments as the game wore on – twice Yarde surged through the defence, only to be denied by a Burrell knock on and a crunching Savea tackle – and they had the hosts scrambling more than once, resulting in a yellow card for substitute Wyatt Crockett. But ultimately the World Champions were too good. With the hooter gone, they elected to play on rather than kick it out, and Corey Jane took advantage by stepping through flimsy defence from Yarde and Lee Dickson to put Savea in for a deserved hat-trick, leaving the final score 36 – 13.

Savea may have been buying the beers that night, but there was little in the way of cheer for England. They came here with a minimum goal of winning at least 1 Test Match, and they hadn’t achieved it. And they probably should have done, in two of the three tests. But despite that, the Tour hasn’t been a failure. Players have grown up, and Lancaster will now know who he can depend on to perform on the toughest stage. But for the time being, there is no doubt about the world order – now England have to prove that they are the best of the rest.

For Player Ratings please see Mike's Blog at www.ruckedover.blogspot.co.uk