England went into the second test of the Steinlarger series in Dunedin full of hope with a revamped side with the return on the likes of Owen Farrell and Billy Twelvetrees rested from that gruelling premiership final two weeks ago.
The All Blacks on the other hand remained with their core team with just one change in the backs as an injury to Isreal Dagg saw Ben Smith moving to full back and Julian Savea returning at wing.
Week one was a relatively slow start for the All Blacks as they managed just the one late try to take the game away from England with a 20-15 score line. A full strength England side in week two meant the All Blacks would not be able to get away with a marginal performance like the week before.
Half Time score: 06-10 (England lead)
Full Time score: 28-27 (NZ win)
England came out guns blazing and took the still rusty world champions by storm. Farrell got England on the board within just two minutes with a penalty. A clearance kick charged down by Joe Launchbury saw Rob Webber go over the line, but some good defense from the Kiwis managed to hold him up. Wave after wave of attack from England saw Marland Yarde bust his way over in the 7th minute, notably bumping out of a tackle from Richie McCaw. Farrell’s conversion saw the visitors leading 10-00 in just 8 minutes of play.
The All Blacks who were still a bit flustered had their line threatened over and over with some probing runs by the likes of Twelvetrees and Luther Burrell. Unfortunately for English fans their backs lacked the ability to capitalise on the countless chances created in mid-field. The hosts could only manage a solitary penalty in the first half an hour of play. Around the 30th minute McCaw rallied his troops and they finally started to get into the game but a few errors still kept them trailing. A powerful scrum from the All Blacks saw Cruden get a shot on goal on the stroke of halftime which gave the Blacks a glimmer of their old self taking the score to 10-06 at half time.
It would be nice to know what exactly All Blacks coach Steve Hansen had to say in the dressing room at half time because the New Zealand that came out in the second half looked nothing like the team of the first half. The world champs were firing on all cylinders.
The high-octane pace continued into the second half with England probing once again until Twelvetrees gave the ball away and New Zealand pounced for a brilliantly executed try. Cruden found Savea with a perfectly timed pass and the All Blacks wing sped forward before sending Ben Smith over under thee posts in the 43rd minute, making it a simple conversion for Cruden. Four minutes later Farrell knocked over a penalty hoping to slow down the All Blacks rally.
New Zealand should have added a second try minutes later but Aaron Smith chose to go it alone instead of sending an unmarked Liam Messam over, the move continued and this time the All Blacks struck by exploiting an overlap on the left as Savea strolled over for his 20th try in 21 caps.
The ominous sight of New Zealand moving through the gears and breaking the gainline at will was compounded by Farrell disappearing into the sin-bin for not releasing in the tackle. When substitute fly-half Beauden Barrett kicked a penalty and Nonu crossed in the left corner following intelligent thinking from Conrad Smith, England’s encouraging first half now seemed a distant memory. With the scoreboard reading 28-13 the Kiwis had pretty much wrapped up the game.
A late England rally with just ten minutes left showed great character within the squad, which will also give them some momentum going into the 3rd and final test. Two good tries from Chris Ashton and Mike Brown along with Farrell’s two conversions gave the score-line a fitting look at 28-27 in favor the Blacks.
Though the scoreboard shows England within just a point many would consider it a 1 point drubbing as the All Blacks played at their best for just 30 minutes and completely took the game away from the English.
In other fixtures Australia pulled off a 06-00 win over France in an ugly, error riddled try-less encounter to seal their test series 2-0 with one test to come. The Wallabies just managed two penalties from the boot of Bernard Foley and Nick White.
In the first test in South Africa the Springboks proved too powerful for the visiting Welsh who went down 38-16. Two tries from Brian Habana along with tries from Duane Vermulane, Willie Le Roux and Cornall Hendricks compiled a 5 try win for the Boks. Morne Steyn knocked over all five conversions along with a penalty giving him a personal tally of 13 points. The Welsh managed just one try through winger Alex Cuthbert along with the conversion from James Hook. Dan Biggar adder one penalty and two drop goals give the Welsh a less embarrassing score line.
