England v All Blacks: Winners and losers as ‘blockbuster’ Wallace Sititi finally fills Kaino’s void while George Ford’s ‘mare’ mutes ‘magical’ Marcus
A split image of All Blacks star Wallace Sititi and England flyhalves Marcus Smith and George Ford.
Following a cracking Test match at Twickenham Stadium between England and the All Blacks, we pick out our winners and losers.
Scott Robertson’s side emerged 24-22 victors after a late try and an even later missed drop-goal from England, as they started their November tour in style.
It was a fantastic Test match that more than lived up to its billing, so without further ado, here are our winners and losers.
Winners
Wallace Sititi
One of the front runners for the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year at this stage, Sititi was named as the official man of the match in his first game at Twickenham and he thoroughly deserved it.
The back-rower was simply incredible in all facets of the game as he caused England all kinds of issues with his hulking ball carries and dynamite defence. He isn’t just a star of the future but one for right now – today was just further evidence of that.
While so many are still calling for him to shift into the number eight jumper, he produced a blockbuster performance on the side of the scrum. Shannon Frizell starred in the number six jersey last year but the All Blacks have never really replaced Jerome Kaino properly, but perhaps now they finally have the star to do just that.
Beauden Barrett
Robertson will be hoping that he will have Beauden Barrett available to him next week after the playmaker left the pitch in the latter stages of the match to undergo a HIA because he was masterful in the fly-half channel.
His head-to-head battle with Marcus Smith lived up to the box-office billing and the two playmakers’ exit from proceedings was a momentum shift and both were better than those that replaced them.
It was a statement performance from the veteran All Black and a timely reminder that he is still world-class.
All Blacks snatch another late victory as George Ford’s errors prove costly for England
Marcus Smith
What could have been… Twickenham was the stage and Smith was the magician waving his wand as he created magic with just about every touch of the ball. Hindsight is a wonderful thing as Steve Borthwick will certainly wonder whether that, if he left Smith on the park, would his team have ended on the right side of the result?
Smith stroked all six of his shots at goal through the uprights and brilliantly set up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s try with a glorious intercept and perfectly timed pass. Yes, he gaffed both of his drop-goal attempts but that was arguably his only inaccuracy. There is no longer any doubt, he is England’s first choice number 10.
Chandler Cunningham-South
We saw the future of the All Blacks back-row shine in the present and the same was true for England as Chandler Cunningham-South produced another blinder. There were fears that England would not be able to fill Courtney Lawes’ void following his retirement but boy is Cunningham-South making a hell of a fist of his opportunities. He is not quite a full 80-minute Test prospect yet but during his 65 minutes, he was one of the best players on the park.
Asafo Aumua
Asafo Aumua was a different beast today as he produced a performance fitting of the hype he created during his New Zealand U20s days. Far too often, he has underdelivered for the All Blacks but today he rose to the occasion after Codie Taylor’s early exit. He was sharp at the set-pieces and as effective as ever in the tight exchanges. Robertson will be leaning heavily on the Hurricanes star for the remainder of the November Tests and will hope he replicates this kind of performance.
Mark Tele’a
The 2023 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year has yo-yoed in and out of the starting team under Robertson but today he made an emphatic statement against England. Mark Tele’a sped past Ellis Genge with ease to score his first and was as slippery as an eel as he returned to slam down the match-winning try to seal a third straight win over England in 2024.
Robertson has alternated between Tele’a and Sevu Reece this year but, after his performance, it would be quite a remarkable call from the All Blacks coaching team for him to be dropped for the Dublin encounter.
Tom Curry
Tom Curry has had more than his fair share of setbacks from a nasty hip injury but he showed no signs of rust today even with just a handful of Premiership matches under his belt this season.
He was right up for the fight against the All Blacks and dominated at the breakdown and in the tight exchanges.
Patrick Tuipulotu
Patrick Tuipulotu’s career has been blighted by injuries but he showed exactly what he is capable of and that the All Blacks’ locking stocks are in rude health after Sam Whitelock’s and Brodie Retallick’s departures. He got stuck into absolutely everything in a stunning cameo off the bench and came up with several clutch plays on defence, at the breakdown, the lineout and even when he made a late error, he quickly went about fixing it. Surely he will be starting next week against Ireland, he has to.
The ref mic
World Rugby’s laws trials have not received much praise at all but one ‘innovation’ this November that is already a massive hit is the referee being mic’d up. The roar from the Twickenham crowd when Angus Gardner ruled out Beauden Barrett’s try was enough evidence to implement this in all professional rugby matches across the globe. It’s simple, effective and probably at least five years too late. We do hope that rugby’s governing body had their notepad out for this one.
Losers
Codie Taylor
A hammer blow today and for the clash against Ireland as Taylor has been one of the form hookers in Test rugby this year. The front-rower lasted just a handful of minutes today after sustaining a head knock that ended his game then and there.
This will leave Robertson with just Aumua and rookie George Bell for the showdown at the Aviva Stadium next Friday unless he opts to call in another hooker, which he may well do. At the risk of being overly harsh on the likes of All Blacks XV hookers Bradley Slater and Brodie McAlister, they are a downgrade from the experienced Taylor.
Perhaps it does even things out for the Dublin encounter as Ireland could be without Ronan Kelleher while Dan Sheehan is definitely ruled out.
George Ford
A hero so often for England throughout his illustrious career, today was just not George Ford’s day. He made a shocking attempted tackle on Tele’a resulting in the match-winning try and had two cracks at turning the result around, missing both. He wasn’t helped by a rather ordinary pass from Harry Randall with his final drop-goal attempt and was understandably gutted with his attempt. Borthwick rolled the dice by including Ford on his bench given the fly-half’s proven pedigree but it backfired and perhaps the substitution was not only made too early but shouldn’t have happened at all. Smith was having a blinder and Ford a mare.
Ellis Genge
Not all his fault, but Ellis Genge was exploited on defence, with the All Blacks’ attack clearly targeting the fringes of the English defence and they got great purchase in doing so, particularly with Will Jordan cantering through.
It was the Bristol Bears star’s first Test match since the Six Nations and, frankly, he did well enough at the scrums with referee Gardner rewarding the England pack at times. That’s a real feather in his cap against one of the finest tightheads in the game in the form of Tyrel Lomax.
Cortez Ratima
Cortez Ratima’s form during the Rugby Championship deserved a start against England but today he did not make the most of it as he was indecisive and made several poor and slow decisions.
The All Blacks attack impressed in patches when he did get it right but it was far too erratic and Robertson should have called his number far earlier than he did as Cam Roigard almost immediately made an impact in ramping up the pace of the attack and accuracy.
At 23 years old, Ratima still has plenty to offer the All Blacks going forward and this was arguably his first underwhelming performance but that might cost him with Ireland looming.
Tupou Vaa’i
After a standout campaign in the Rugby Championship, Tupou Vaa’i could find himself on the bench for the next Test match against Ireland after an underwhelming shift against England.
He was hammered by Cunningham-South and spilt the ball in the process and Robertson finally gave him the shepherd’s hook just minutes into the second half, with the experienced Tuipulotu replacing him.
Tuipulotu missed the Rugby Championship through injury and Vaa’i looked to make a strong statement during the tournament to become Scott Barrett’s long-term locking partner, but today he was not near that level.
Against Japan, Tuipulotu captained the All Blacks for the first time and is clearly held in high regard by the coaching team.
Sam Underhill
Borthwick’s decision to leave out the Bath star for the clash against the All Blacks was vindicated as Ben and Tom Curry both made telling contributions while Ben Earl was excellent at the back of the scrum, too.
Sam Underhill was brilliant in the Six Nations and in New Zealand earlier this year, and he would have felt hard done by to miss out on Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series opener but, on today’s evidence, it’s unlikely that he will be back for the clash against Australia.
It’s a tough business being an international back-rower, particularly when one plays for a team stacked with options like England are.
Ethan de Groot
Ethan de Groot was a shock omission from this week’s squad as the brilliant loosehead prop was axed for not meeting the All Blacks ‘internal standards’.
“Ethan didn’t meet internal standards,” Robertson said earlier this week.
“Just the internal standards. In general, he didn’t meet them, so he’s not available for selection this week.’’
However, if he is absent next week it won’t be due to his actions but rather those of Tamaiti Williams and Ofa Tu’ungafasi who were excellent.
De Groot has been New Zealand’s first-choice starter for some time now but Jason Ryan now has a really tough decision on who he wants to front up against the Irish.
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