Mon, Nov 12, 2018 page10

• New Zealand battle back to edge England by one point

  • Reuters, LONDON
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  A try for Damian McKenzie and the kicking of Beauden Barrett, featuring his first-ever test drop goal, enabled New Zealand to fight back from 15-0 down to beat England 16-15 on Saturday as their first clash in four years fully lived up to its billing.

  Tries by Chris Ashton after two minutes and Dylan Hartley had England on a high as the world champions were harried into mistakes in difficult, rainy conditions.

  However, they pulled back to within five points just before halftime and edged clear soon after. Helped by a key, late decision by the television match official that canceled out what England thought was a match-winning try, they made it 15 wins in the teams’ past 16 meetings.

  

  New Zealand full-back Damian McKenzie makes a break in their rugby union match against England at Twickenham Stadium in London on Saturday.

  Photo: AFP

  “I thought Sam Underhill had won it for us, but I would do,” England cocaptain Owen Farrell said. “That’s rugby.”

  Despite failing to add to that solitary 2012 success — their sole victory in the fixture since before the 2003 World Cup — England, who are to face Japan next week, will take real heart from their performance.

  “It was a really good step forward because you benchmark yourself against New Zealand,” England coach Eddie Jones said.

  “I thought we played the final 20 exceptionally well,” he said. “We’ll take enormous confidence from that. We’re excited about where we’re going.”

  From the moment that the Twickenham crowd drowned out the haka with a rousing “Swing Low” as the rain swept across the stadium, it felt like it might be England’s day. After a breathless opening 30 minutes, it seemed as if the home team was delivering on their promise of trying to knock New Zealand out of their comfort zone.

  With less than two minutes on the clock, Ben Youngs’ long pass opened the door for Ashton, making his first start for four years, to slide in the corner.

  England continued to dominate, kicking to make the All Blacks turn at every opportunity and seizing on a rash of errors before setting up Farrell to slot a drop goal.

  England’s forwards then took center stage with an unstoppable rolling maul straight out of their 1990s playbook that carried Hartley and half of the New Zealand team over the line.

  Farrell converted to make it 15-0 with the All Blacks never threatening an attack.

  Six years ago, in England’s only win in the last 15 editions of the fixture, they also led 15-0 only for New Zealand to charge back to within a point before Stuart Lancaster’s team forged clear.

  Sure enough, back the All Blacks came and when they finally forced a penalty in front of the posts, captain Kieran Read opted for a scrum. It looked like an ambitious decision, but it paid off when Barrett’s pop pass sent McKenzie over under the posts.

  With halftime beckoning, a rare Farrell error — he sent the restart straight into touch — allowed New Zealand to make ground and close the gap to 15-10 at the break with a Barrett penalty.

  The All Black flyhalf then dropped his first goal in 71 tests early in the second half. England twice opted for lineouts when given very kickable penalties and lived to regret it when the All Blacks were offered the same opportunity on the hour, Barrett taking the shot to put them in the lead for the first time.

  Both sides continued with their kicking game, but England failed to take advantage as their lineout fell apart, with man-of-the-match lock Brodie Retallick a constant menace.

  However, the All Blacks were unable to deliver their usual last-quarter dominance as England stayed in the hunt.

  They thought that they had won it five minutes from time when Courtney Lawes charged down TJ Pereira’s clearance kick and flanker Underhill scooped up the ball and threw a dummy to befuddle Barrett and reach the line.
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