New Zealand rugby pundits blamed tiredness at the end of a long season for the All Blacks' shock loss to England, also suggesting over-confidence contributed to the defeat.
Media were full of praise for England after they ended the world champions' 20-Test winning sequence with a famous 38-21 victory at Twickenham, comparing them to Martin Johnson's 2003 World Cup winners.
"England didn't just ambush the No.1 side in the game at Twickenham... they ambushed the rugby world," former All Black half-back Justin Marshall wrote in the Dominion Post.
The New Zealand Herald pointed out it was England's biggest win over the All Blacks, surpassing a 13-0 result in 1936, and the New Zealanders' second heaviest defeat ever, after a 28-7 loss to Australia in 1999.
While skipper Richie McCaw said after the game that a stomach bug in the tourists' camp had not affected his team, the Herald's Wynne Gray said it could not be ignored when searching for reasons behind the lacklustre display.
"The lack of sting from the start suggested illness which swept the team during the week had a severe impact," he wrote.
"If the team wasn't affected by illness, it was some lesson from England... they had a hunger that has not been apparent since the World Cup-winning group from 2003."
Former All Blacks captain Stu Wilson said New Zealand had "nothing in the tank" in the final Test of a draining season.
"It was just one too far for our boys, who got second," he told Radio New Zealand. "They were beaten by a very good side, a very young side, I might add, and we're looking a bit old and weary."
In the lead-up to the game, New Zealand were touted as possibly one of the greatest rugby sides ever and Fairfax Media correspondent Toby Robson said some players had bought into the hype, to the frustration of coach Steve Hansen.
"Hansen is big on staying grounded, but his players were inflated with helium in the buildup to their final Test of the season," he wrote. "His players got ahead of themselves and paid the price."
Marshall dismissed suggestions illness and fatigue were behind the loss, saying the tourists were simply beaten by a better team.
"The All Blacks were out-thought, more than anything. England came with a game plan that we simply didn't think they could deliver," he wrote. "Maybe they even surprised themselves."
After handing out rugby lessons to opponents for 20 straight Tests, Marshall said the New Zealanders had now been given one by England and rookie players who had until now only tasted success with the All Blacks should "suck it up".
"The next major challenge in this part of the world will come in the 2015 World Cup and the likes of (Israel) Dagg, (Julian) Savea, (Sam) Whitelock and Aaron Smith will now know the sort of challenges they'll be up against," he said.
Comments
ninkynonk says...
@jehosophat. Well said, a voice of balanced reason.
Posted 21:50 03rd December 2012
carpelone says...
First of all, this was one of the most entertaining games in quite a few year, which I thorougly enjoyed.
England played with heart, passion and belief and they deserved what they got.
New Zealand had a game in which all the episodes went against them, and you can well lose to any of the top 5 team on the day.
More than fatigue, I would say lack of freshness and inaccurate execution cost New Zealand the game. Players like McCaw, Smith and Carter may underperform when consecutive Test Matches are played.
In spite of the loss, New Zealand is the better team with established structures and with a good blend between young talents and old "pirates". The only question mark is how they will substitute McCaw, Carter and Smith when they will be up to the task anymore.
England had an extremely (and quite surprisingly, to be honest) good game, but they need to put other good games together. In any case, again well done and enjoy the moment.
Side question. Is it the fist defeat for New Zealand with the Kapa o pango?
Posted 20:56 03rd December 2012
olepete says...
A couple of months ago I posted on this site that the ABs, though pretty good, had been flattered by the poor quality of the opposition - Oz injuries and SA suffering from HM jabberijng down the walkie-talkie. Fatigue and illness my have had an effect but England on Saturday were the first halfway decent team they have met since RWC.
When I've heard Justin Marshall commentating on AB internationals, he always seems to be calling for the ABs to lose. Funny guy.
Posted 17:16 03rd December 2012
kybone says...
In the long run it is the end of a tough season for NZ, and the other SH teams for that matter, but lets be fair- this wasn't the most demanding schedule that NZ could have had. I mean they played a piss poor Scotland, an, admittedly, well performing Italy, then a completely out of sorts Wales. So thats Wales and Scotland well below their best and Italy before facing England. They didn't play France or Ireland.
OzinLondon- I would argue that 3 tests against the Boks in SA is much tougher than 4 tests against the likes of Scotland, Italy, and an off colour Wales.
Posted 17:10 03rd December 2012
kybone says...
Philly-Ok mate i buy the travel schedule thing, but for pure number of games the NH season is much longer. The Prem alone has 6 more games than the S15, then when you factor in a minimum of 6 european fixtures and a minimum of 4 LV cup games, the English season has a minimum of 32 club games- the S15 has exactly half that amount of games.
gazzabok- Actually you've made yourself look a bit silly. What kid_diablo was saying was that tiredness is never accepted as an excuse when NH teams use it on the June tours, so how can SH teams use it on the November tours.
I just don't get why you can't all just accept that you were beaten fair and square- is it because it was against England who, as we all know because you've been telling us every day since the world cup, are the worst team ever and the laughing stock of world rugby.
Posted 17:02 03rd December 2012
Benny says...
TVaddict, what do you mean? Justin was very clear in his praise for England. He said he doesn't buy the fatigue or illness excuses. This is the title of his article
"Steve Hansen dead right - better team won"
Posted 16:14 03rd December 2012
ssssssssss says...
Ill-discipline is the ABs current problem. They were a human crime wave on this tour and it cost them the game and their reputation. They need to spend the summer studying the rule book.
Posted 13:56 03rd December 2012
JamieTheProp says...
And the travel excuse doesn't wash - all the NH teams were down in NZ last year at the start of the season!
England were just the better team on the day - not the better team, just better on the day!
Posted 13:30 03rd December 2012
Philly says...
Kid, the NH doesn't have half the punishing schedule the SH has. NPC; Super 15, Rugby championship, June tests, November tests....All stretched out over a long year.... Not withstanding the travel. NH can be anywhere in Europe within 4 hours... If the NH had anywhere near that kind of schedule they would be a mutiny......The fact that England has never beaten NZ by such a score says it all. It was one game too far......And have you ever had the flu?
Posted 13:25 03rd December 2012
jmckenna92 says...
@kid_diablo all the NZ team bar 2 players were sick on wednesday, miles away from home in a hotel. You dont totaly recover from somthing like that by mid day saturday no matter how good you are. NZ players also played SA twice, Aus twice and Argentina twice in the Rugby Championship while English players were just STARTING their season! Im pretty sure the rugby championship is tougher than the premiership and the players were at the end of long season of super 15 which is of a much greater standard
Posted 12:41 03rd December 2012
jehosophat says...
To this Englishman it seems the New Zealanders - from the coach down - have been very gracious in defeat. Looking for reasons for the defeat is not the same as making excuses - hopefully we can all keep that in perspective.
NZ remain the world number 1 team by some way, and I am sure the illness and the match schedule and were contributing factors. The NH season has been excessive for years, now the SH are the same, it is not doing the players or the game any favours.
Over confidence must have been a factor too - how many of us really thought that was possible? I was looking for a narrow defeat but some decent consistent rugby as a "success" for such a young side.
In the end it was a great combative England performance and the pack were superb, but there were still some silly passes in the back line and plenty of good opportunities where we had the penalty advantage but butchered try scoring opportunities I feel NZ would have put away.
Posted 11:26 03rd December 2012
APV1 says...
Thankfully the NZ players and coaches are a little more gracious and left the sour grapes well alone.
And, also thankfully, so have most of the NZ fans.
It's just a shame that the NZ press couldn't do the same. Perhaps they're competing for the most annoying press in the world accolade. You'll never manage to get past a certain Mr S Jones of the Sunday Times and his oft-slated chum, Mr S Barnes. But thanks for playing.
Posted 11:24 03rd December 2012
TVaddict says...
The current AB captain and coach and most of their fans on here can be gracious in defeat, why can't Justin Marshall? At least he mentioned we are a young team with players that hopefully will be around for a while.
Posted 11:14 03rd December 2012
lawynd says...
Marshall is a great pundit, his peers should take a leaf out of his, and Richie McCaw's, book. Teams touring Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in the NH summer are always derided (and rightly so) if they use fatigue as an excuse.
And please gents, let's not get into a 'our season is longer than yours!' debate, because it's completely uninformative.
Posted 11:12 03rd December 2012
OzinLondon says...
kid-diablo
And yet the "end of a long season" excuse is trotted out every single year by every NH teams heading down south.
We even have Stephen Jones in the ST telling everyone for the last couple of weeks that the only reason that the Lions will lose next year is if they are too tired and ill-prepared after a long season... it couldn't possibly be that Australia are better.
England were great on Saturday but I don't think any sensible observer would deny that the ABs just weren't themselves. Usually they're still too good anyway but they caught England on the worst possible day.
There is no doubt that the June and November Tests are stacked heavily in the home teams' favour at the end of long seasons for the visitors. However I notice that none of the NH teams are ever expected to play 4 Tests in 4 weeks in June. The SH teams seem to do it every year... of course it will take its toll.
Posted 11:00 03rd December 2012
gazzabok says...
@kid_diablo. You've made yourself look a bit foolish there, my friend....
Just think where the respective hemispheres are in their seasons...
Posted 10:57 03rd December 2012
RiverBlues77 says...
They lost because England totally dominated the ruck and maul situations. The ABs have become used to bullying their opponents in this area, slowing down ball, falling on the wrong side, coming in from the side and shunting opposition forwards back. From the word go it was obvious the English forwards were not going to be bullied off the ball, and that more than anything put the ABs off. It helped that the ref actually policed McCaw et al at the breakdown instead of letting them get away with murder. New Zealand just isn't the same team without 16 players.
Posted 10:32 03rd December 2012
BDAUSSIE says...
I think this year's results have shown that there is not a lot between the top 10 sides in rugby. Eng can beat NZ on their day. Samoa can beat wales at cardiff. Argies can smash Ireland. Italy can trouble Aus. etc. It all comes down to consistency. France seriously lack consistency, as do the wallabies. Wales played well in the six nations but couldnt keep it going throughout the year. England's game on the weekend was reminiscent of a similar win against Aus at twickers in 2010. It's taken them two years to put out a similar performance.
Consistency is what sets NZ apart from the rest of World rugby. There are a number of other teams in world rugby that can challenge the all blacks at the top IF they can show consistency
Posted 10:30 03rd December 2012
passtheball says...
Its only one test lets not get ahead of ourselves. Wait and see how Eng go against France and how the selectors deal with some aging ABs.
Posted 10:07 03rd December 2012
kid_diablo says...
Bulls**t ! northern hemisphere season is still considerably longer than their season, if it was never a good excuse for us then it isn't for them
Posted 08:44 03rd December 2012