On December 1 2012, Stuart Lancaster's England welcomed the All Blacks to Twickenham, with the visitors unbeaten in 20 Tests, reigning 2011 World Cup champions, and the hosts on a run of one win in six. We look back at one of England's greatest performances, as they secured a shock win.
Tuesday 1 December 2020 18:36, UK
On this day eight years ago, December 1, Stuart Lancaster's England recorded a sensational 38-21 victory over New Zealand at Twickenham.
Undefeated in 20 Tests, the reigning world champions All Blacks were in bristling form in 2012 - they had already beaten Scotland 51-22, Italy 42-10 and Wales 33-10. There was just England left on their autumn tour - an England side who had already lost to Australia and South Africa.
With their 2011 Rugby World Cup triumph still fresh in the memory, New Zealand were the hottest of favourites, but they were swept aside by an England side that produced arguably the greatest-ever Twickenham performance.
England started fast and dominated the early possession, while there were early signs of New Zealand frailty both in the scrum and from Dan Carter's boot - as the fly-half missed a couple of very kickable penalties.
There was no such fallibility from a young Owen Farrell as he knocked over three nerveless first-half penalties, all of them earned by England's power at the scrum and in the contact area, and a 'free-shot' drop goal with another penalty coming.
After the All Blacks had been kept scoreless in the first half for the first time since 1998, Farrell extended England's lead to 15 points, a minute after the break following another scrum penalty.
Yet, the All Blacks battled their way back into the contest with converted tries from Julian Savea and Kieran Read within four minutes of each other.
The game seemed to turn on its head for the first time from New Zealand's first real attack, as Carter put a penalty into the corner and as the ball was swept to the opposite flank, Savea beat Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs in the corner with a magnificent finish.
Carter converted from the touchline and three minutes later repeated the dose after incessant New Zealand pressure ended with Read crashing over in the opposite corner.
Twickenham sensed the worst. The All Blacks had found their cutting edge and a third consecutive defeat to southern hemisphere opposition seemed in the offing.
The hosts hit back in magnificent style, however, with three tries of their own to claim their first win over the All Blacks since 2003 and end a nine-match losing streak against New Zealand.
First, England took control again as Farrell put Brad Barritt through for the centre to exchange passes with Tuilagi before scoring in the corner, although Farrell failed to convert.
England needed to score again to maintain the momentum and they did almost immediately, as Tuilagi crashed through Carter in midfield, shrugged off Richie McCaw and put Chris Ashton in for his swallow-dive finish.
Farrell's missed conversion was quickly atoned for as Tuilagi continued as tormentor-in-chief with a try of his own shortly after, as the centre picked off Read's pass and trotted in for a try, which this time Farrell did convert.
The mighty All Blacks were in disarray by this stage and England took advantage with two Freddie Burns penalties to move out of sight.
Mako Vunipola was sin-binned for not stopping after the referees' whistle in the closing stages and wonderful hands put Savea in to score his second, but by then Twickenham was in celebration mode.
A first defeat in 21 matches for the mighty All Blacks ensued, and by full-time the likes of Tuilagi, Barritt, Joe Launchbury and Tom Wood had played the game of their lives.
The scale of England's achievement can be gauged by the fact that this was just their seventh win over New Zealand, while their margin of victory surpassed the 13-point record that dates back to 1936.
New Zealand had won 19 and drawn one of their last 20 games, while England had won just one of their last six - against Fiji three weeks prior.
The stats and the experts all suggested England had no chance, but England made a mockery of that in an incredible second half that has gone down in Twickenham folklore.
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen was glowing in his praise of England afterwards, saying: "There were two teams capable of winning the World Cup out there.
"No excuses, we got beaten by the better side. They thoroughly deserved their victory and should be proud of what they have achieved with magnificent football. They took the game to us from the get-go, full credit to them."
England's Lancaster said in the aftermath of the undoubted highlight of his tenure: "The performance was exactly what we had hoped for.
"I'm chuffed for the players. When the tough times came, we stayed together. That team belief with a young England side definitely augurs well for the future.
"The win gives the players belief in the direction we are going and the rugby public a sense that this journey is the right one."
Optimism about England's hopes for a home Rugby World Cup in 2015 did not play out, however, with the team the first - and still the only - hosts ever to be eliminated at the pool stage.
