Saturday 8 November 2014 20:42, UK
New Zealand showed their class with a fifth straight victory over England as they beat Stuart Lancaster’s men 24-21 at Twickenham on Saturday.
England pushed New Zealand all the way, especially in the first half, however New Zealand showed why they are the best team in the world with a superb third quarter that England had no answer for.
The All Blacks adapted quickly to the worsening conditions and really took hold of the game, and while England will take a lot of positives from their display in the first 40 minutes, the second half would have made them realise just how far they need to go before the 2015 World Cup.
Jonny Wilkinson, Sir Clive Woodward and Sean Fitzpatrick who all know a thing or two about winning a World Cup, give their reaction to the game.
Sean Fitzpatrick: I thought New Zealand played very well, I didn’t think they started that well, the line out will be an issue, the scrum will be an issue but they definitely squeezed England out in the second half.
Richie McCaw – man of the match there – just outstanding. He does it every time he plays, he fronts up and he delivers. New Zealand won a very difficult game her at Twickenham. I thought New Zealand in the third quarter were outstanding and it was a masterclass in that sort of weather.
Jonny Wilkinson: I think the first half was great, both sides were finding their way but the second half was a totally different story. When you are leading your game and you want to close it out, you can drive line-outs, and hit your box-kicks and chase and let the other team have the ball and just rely on your defence. But when you are behind you keep doing that for a while and you end up slowing your own game down and it gets harder to do anything else for the rest of the game.
For next week we really have to remain positive. How many times would you say we have ten big changes in the team? We’re playing against a strong New Zealand side who have had a strong season and Sonny Bill Williams is back in and then we lose by three points. There are huge amounts of positives to take from it. The difference for me is that New Zealand just keep going.
Sir Clive Woodward: Are England creating chances? The answer to that is yes they did, so you have to say well done. I have to say Kyle Eastmond in the first half played really well. In the second half, the pressure really came on them. When you’re picking a back division, you’ve got two kickers, Farrell and Brown, and really Brown never got himself in position to help out. So you’re left with Farrell there on his own,
Eastmond is not a great kicker - he gets the ball charged down so you look at your whole game that way. You’ve got one kicker at 10 and one at full-back. We didn’t get quite into the game. When I was coach I always liked two ball players at 10 and 12. Dry weather, wet weather, regardless, you need people that can pass the ball and who can kick the ball in defence and attack. I don’t think England have quite got that and I think when it gets really wet like it did today, it just exposed that. What I was really pleased with is that they got George Ford on and they tried to resurrect it but by that stage, New Zealand were brilliant.
