Phenomenal: Manu Tuilagi
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Delirium was the order of the day on Saturday at Twickenham as England defeated New Zealand 38-21 with three second-half tries.
New Zealand responded to a 15-0 defecit with scores from Julian Savea and Kieran Read, before England took charge thanks to three of their own from Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi in an astonishing second-half performance.
Owen Farrell endured a tumultuous week with being named as one of the best four players in the world, as if the pressure coming for England's most-capped player in Toby Flood wasn't enough. But the young Saracen flourished, showing great poise with the boot as he continued to tally up the points and steered England during the first half.
The All Blacks had been struck down by a vomiting bug during the week and despite Richie McCaw's claim that it would not affect them at Twickenham, New Zealand did not look themselves at all during the first 50 minutes as they were denied possession.
Julian Savea's try changed all of that; stepping his way through three England defenders in the left-hand corner to breathe life into the All Blacks. They flicked the switch and thundered forward from the re-start, sticking to their principles of running rugby and exploiting gaps that they left untouched in the first half.
England though were not simply going to fall down on their knees. Instead they roared back, thumping the All Blacks as the second half wore on. The rarest of breaks from Brad Barritt had the crowd roaring and a one-two with centre partner Tuilagi led to the hosts' first try.
Tuilagi then skipped through a tackle from Dan Carter to burst free, feeding Ashton who sprinted over for the second try. A Tuilagi interception then sealed the match, cruising home and slowing down as he neared the line as if he couldn't believe his luck. England were like a new team - the All Blacks were exhausted.
Whilst Carter missed two shots at goal in the first half, his fellow IRB Player of the Year nominee Farrell was accurate - knocking over two first-half penalties to give England a surprising 6-0 lead to the delight of the home crowd.
An overthrown lineout from Keven Mealamu resulted in another English driving maul before Tuilagi burst into the 22 and with the advantage being played, Farrell dropped back and stretched England's lead to nine.
Another infringement with seconds remaining left Farrell with another chance to strike before half-time, landing the 48 metre kick to leave the score at 12-0. Twickenham had never been more pleasantly surprised.
The run continued after the break with England winning a penalty at the scrum, Farrell again converting to leave New Zealand more than two converted tries behind the hosts.
Those tries duly arrived in two explosive bangs in the left-hand corner; the first coming from Savea then the second coming as the conclusion to some wonderful passing that left Read galloping into the corner before England scorched away. Savea responded with a try with only five minutes left but it was not enough as the All Blacks lost for the first time in 2012.
Man of the match: Two assists and one crucial interception try from Manu Tuilagi make him the player of the day.
Moment of the match: With New Zealand edging back into the match, Brad Barritt's score swung the momentum back in England's favour.
Villain of the match: The mystery bug that struck New Zealand earlier in the week. McCaw might have denied it would have an effect, but the All Blacks looked exhausted.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Barritt, Ashton, Tuilagi
Con: Farrell
Pens: Farrell (5), Burns
Yellow Card: Vunipola
For New Zealand:
Tries: Savea (2), Read
Cons: Carter (2), Cruden
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumunia, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Ben Smith.
by Ben Coles
@bencoles_
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
2 thoughts: 1; Argentina joining RC is delivering knackered teams to face Europe in the Autumn. 2. Hores disgrace meant ABs had to play clean at Twickers. These two factors put them off their game, as well as an inspired England performance.
Posted 12:41 02nd December 2012
ramm83 says...
@jonesy2 - Sour grapes son...
Posted 12:31 02nd December 2012
Trader2 says...
Not sure what happened to my post put up this morning, however was just adding my congratulations to England on a fantastic performance. I had slept through my alarm and woke up with 10 mins to go, looked at the live update and said "bugger me I am not getting up now" Watched the recording later and what a joy (well almost) to see England respond to the two AB tries with three of their own, absolute brilliance. Just think how this England squad will live with this for ever, their grandkids will be fed up with the stories.Their challenge now is to follow this up, they have set the bar high and must win the 6N's or all will be forgotton. For the AB's I suspect there would not be too many recriminations they have had a fantastic season, and the players will stew on this over the summer, actually feel a little sorry for the French as they are first up in 2013.
APV1
Hope you got to the match, you would be estatic, 6 tries on a Saturday arvo at Twickers - classic, hope you enjoyed it and by the way if you can get a couple of tickests for next November's replay, let me know and I will book the airfare.
Well done to England again, how wrong many of us were. Well like Ritchie it has been a long season so I will take a sabbatical and be back for the 6N's. I would like to wish all PR land (yes even you Trinats) a very merry Xmas and a fantastic 2013. Cheers.
Posted 12:10 02nd December 2012
lawynd says...
It's great to read the comments from the real fans around the globe, and unsurprising in the least to see the usual suspects slink out from under their stones to bash their keyboards with their faces for a few minutes.
I was almost speechless at the final whistle yesterday; the first half was encouraging and surprising but the second half was an absolute corker, from both sides. Would it be biased to say that the second 40 is the best half of rugby I've ever watched?
I definitely won't be getting carried away though, and I hope the England players and management don't. The All Blacks have been beaten before and will be again, but crucially they come back stronger every time. England need to adopt the same sort of mentality - identify the weaknesses and mistakes (there were plenty still yesterday, as well as in the previous games) and work on ensuring they don't happen again.
Also, a shout out to the poster who identified Farrell's tackling against backs in the preview thread - fantastic analysis! Corey Jane showed exactly why it could be a problem.
Posted 11:58 02nd December 2012
yjmc says...
Savor it while you can pommies...you win one game and you sound like you are best team in the world...yes..England played better on the day and deserves the win..no excuses from us....but you seem to ignore it took you nine years to beat us...and took the performance of the decade for you to beat us...when we beat you the last nine years in a row...it wasn't even our performance of the year...so you know how big the gap is between All Blacks and England is ....until you beat us consistently...you can keep on bragging about this one..coz the next one might not come for another nine years.....haha
Posted 11:56 02nd December 2012
JamieTheProp says...
@ jonesy2 - you aren't sorry and you aren't right! New Zealand want to win every game they play - it's one of the things that makes them so special! One of the reasons they have won 20 in a row too!
Show some class for a change and admit that England played well against by far the best team in the world - then go take that chip on your shoulder for a big walk!
Posted 11:50 02nd December 2012
norm says...
So Jonesy what you are saying is that at end of season when teams are tired the results don't count, I do recall you saying something similar after the 3rd test in the summer when you don't I?
I really hope you are a prepubescent young lad flitting between this site and milf.com and therefore you would still have a hope of growing up.
Top year AB's. Shame for mccaw to start his sabbatical like this but I suspect he on balance can be happy with his year and pending irb award. Well done England look forward to seeing you in Dublin
Posted 11:19 02nd December 2012
golden_statenba says...
@jonesy2
I don't know about other countries but no game to the ABs is meaningless. Thats why they have the best record in world rugby.
Yes they might have been a little under the weather but they were still able to take the field and play and England where ruthless and fair play to that.
The thing i'm most impressed about is how NZ fans are taking this. Like they have come of age(most of them)and the English fans who understand that it will take consistency before they get carried away
One loss one draw since the world cup. Im sure most teams would be happy with a record like that
I think the ABs record speaks for itself
The best thing about this is it makes for a very exciting rematch next year!!!
Posted 10:54 02nd December 2012
Sincero says...
England were outstanding- many compliments from across the Irish Sea! Great news for European rugby too- and what with the French result against the Wallabies and even ourselves showing some promise against the Pumas, the Six nations could be a serious battle (don't fancy our chances with our low-grade coach, but I digress). Lions tour now looks especially tasty. Time to put things right there. Anyway, well done to England on the performance of the Autumn. Cracking rugby.
Posted 10:46 02nd December 2012
jehosophat says...
Amazing what a team with no world class players in it can achieve.
This was just like the match 2 years ago vs the Wallabies, England were sharp and competitive and seemed flowing with confidence. Sadly that did not last - though I have higher hopes of Lancaster.
England still a work in progress but the wake up call of the Wallabies match has resulted in a better team -Foden's return is the only change for me. We still lack a 7 but Wood is a mobile 6 and good on the ground which helps.
I feel better about England than at any time in the last decade as this is finally a young team not being propped up by people on their last legs, and the coaching side and attitude seem right. There will be challenges ahead but I am hoping for some consistency finally!
Posted 10:04 02nd December 2012
BokAvenger says...
Rose Tiger you LEGEND!
Posted 09:55 02nd December 2012
Artherfish says...
Despite a fantastic home win for us ( a shot in the arm for all us die hard English fans) the unbroken string of dominant performances clearly show the Kiwis are the best in the world. And judging by the grace and generous statements given in defeat by the Kiwi fans posting here they would seem to have the most level headed fan base. Thank you to them for restoreing my faith in the rugby comnitty. To all those others who carp on, mud sling, and troll to get a rise, or fullill thre own sense of superiority take note of how to act correctly. And now directed to all those who have dismissed England as dismal no hoppers..... Ha ha ha we wone and did it well and in style. Bring on the 6 nations and for god sake lads keep it up I don,t think we English fans cope with another false dawn.
Posted 09:07 02nd December 2012
colvin says...
As one of the most one-eyed ABs supporters I can choke and splutter all I like but we were hammered. Well done England, but we'll be back..
But one thing came through loud and clear in this match. The strut of the English players wearing their all white kit is one of the most endearing sights in international rugby, even to the opposition. England must get rid of this crazy idea that they can play big international test matches in anything other than the white kit they've worn for over 100 years. It's all about pride in the jersey. Even Lancaster said as much yesterday.
Posted 08:34 02nd December 2012
Manu99 says...
Responding to 'Temana' ...
I don't understand your reasoning bro. As a fellow AB supporter (I'm guessing your Maori! apologies, if you're not. Your name is my only clue) I don't think McCaw, DC and CS need replacement ... Is this the only game you've watched this year bro? One average performance doesn't warrant a panic attack. McCaw is at the top of his game, just as Carter is ... You don't just get nominated to best player award for turning up. Judge them by a string of average performances not one. These guys are streets ahead of those you've named, and although good players, they too need to prove it over a 19 game winning pattern. I believe you're being a bit irrational.
Posted 07:39 02nd December 2012
Manu99 says...
Well played England ... I am a die hard AB fan and love my team to death. Although I am annoyed at the fact we lost by so much and left to wonder if the travelling, the long season, the stomach bug that affected the boys this week (it takes a few days to recover!) BUT ya know what, I won't use that as an excuse. England deserved the win because of the way they played. Congratulations England on your win, just hope you are on your way up now and continue to build on that. I look forward to our next contest. To all the other haters from other countries please beat us first to qualify to your comments. Just like the loss we had in Brisbane last year, our recent history is awesome after a loss like this. I look forward to all comers, it might just be the loss that carries us all the way to the RWC 2015.Only time will tell if this loss was a blessing. Once again England congratulations!!
Posted 07:27 02nd December 2012
IAMpunter2609 says...
Kudos England well played! NZ still comfortably no1 on the planet. To the people calling for NZs vets (conrad, ritchie etc,) to be dropped SMH at you. One game doesn't mean anything unless its the world cup. This was a meaningless test really and im not worried for one second about the abs future. I feel this game was a fluke for England but they can prove me wrong by pushing on and winning the 6 nations.
Posted 07:18 02nd December 2012
irishaussie says...
Lancaster and his staff have done well to completely rebuild the English side from scratch, they've played their hearts out all year and they fully deserve this victory, congratulations England not for winning, but for showing some heart and passion for the first time since 2003.
Posted 05:25 02nd December 2012
Voice says...
Pity that there are still so many clowns that blog here by virtue of their comments one can see that they played very little rugby or none at all, but I suppose idiots somehow get in everywhere.
Firstly, I thought the england pack were very good, their loose forwards brilliant and for the first time in a long time their backs did something with the ball they got. NZ were poor by their own standards and were comprehensively beaten and just had no gas left in the tank!
Posted 04:57 02nd December 2012
Lucasrg says...
I was here at the pub (London) and there were 3 old man in tears.....enough said.
Well done England.
an Italian.
Posted 03:56 02nd December 2012
jonesy2 says...
hate to dampen englands win but you beat a side that probably shouldnt have even taken the field in what was a meaningless game for them at the end of a long year. should have really gone home with the boks.
Posted 03:43 02nd December 2012