England v All Blacks winners and losers: ‘Full respect’ for what George Ford ‘brilliantly’ did with Henry Pollock the ‘pick of the Pom squad’

Liam Heagney
George Ford goes on the attack for England while, inset, Peter Lakai carries for the All Blacks.

George Ford goes on the attack for England while, inset, Peter Lakai carries for the All Blacks.

Following England’s fully deserved 33-19 victory against the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, here’s our key winners and losers from the Autumn Nations Series fixture in London.

Winners

George Ford

You wouldn’t have guessed at the top of the year that the fly-half would become so invaluable to the on-pitch England set-up.

With Fin Smith’s fledgling career taking off and booking him a British and Irish Lions tour, Ford was set to be consigned to the shadows. But something triggered on the summer tour to Argentina and he has superbly taken that authority into this Autumn Nations Series.

He began against the All Blacks with a dud kick that was easily defended behind the line, but he imperiously grew into the contest after England fell a dozen points down.

His assist pass for the Ollie Lawrence try was sweet, and the two drop goals he fired over in rapid succession were a reminder of the magic in Marseille when he smothered Argentina with that famed 2023 Rugby World Cup hat-trick.

Then, in the second half, he was coolness personified, with excitement rising around him. Look at how he immediately overcame the disappointment of seeing his 50th-minute try scrubbed out due to a Ben Earl knock on by drilling the 50:22 kick five minutes later that secured the lineout for the Fraser Dingwall try.

It was apt that his super performance was capped by the 75th-minute penalty that restored England’s two-score lead, guaranteeing them their 10th Test match win on the bounce before Tom Roebuck’s try pushed the margin out to a generous proportion.

Let’s have no arguments; English fans must fully respect what Ford brilliantly did for his team.

England’s midfield

There were calls on the back of what England did last weekend against Fiji for an English midfield rejig, but Lawrence showed he deserved his place outside Mr Glue, Fraser Dingwall. They were the perfect powder keg to blow a gaping hole in the aura of the All Blacks.

The entertainment began on 25 minutes with Lawrence’s powerful surge, taking a pass for and leaving a carload of Kiwi defenders for dead to score. Lawrence then provided the assist for Dingwall to blast his way to the try line on 55 minutes and leave the Twickenham crowd in raptures.

It wasn’t with the ball that the pair caught the eye. They also had their highlights in defence. See, for instance the perfectly executed chop tackle from Dingwall on 69 minutes that allowed sib Henry Pollock to arrive, get over the New Zealand ball carrier and win the penalty at a time when the result was hanging in the balance with England’s lead cut to six points.

It was a centre partnership that rose to the occasion and should now quieten the demand made by like the Clive Woodward that Tommy Freeman must be in the midfield.

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Peter Lakai

The 22-year-old becoming a regular All Blacks starter wasn’t on the bingo card at the start of the year, but he demonstrated in recent weeks in Chicago and Edinburgh that he is a jewel of a talent, and that impression was added to what he produced in London.

It will be a bleak process for the All Blacks sifting through the wreckage, but they can’t but he pleased with the engine and drive exhibited by their rookie Test back-rower. He reached the break against England credited with a dozen carries after being a central part on the pressure that produced their two first half tries.

So many of his teammates went rapidly downhill with England growing in confidence, but Lakai stayed in the fight despite the odds mounting against New Zealand. Looked at the defensive line he ran on 59 minutes to deny Pollock getting the ball back on an England breakaway.

That unselfish, committed run was a try-saver and highlighted the inspiring attitude the youngster had throughout the match.

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The Pom Squad

All Blacks boss Scott Robertson was tickled during the week on hearing that England had found a catchy name for their bench. He won’t feel so amused, though, after seeing his beaten team suffer when the English subs were called on.

Marcus Smith was a forced first-half change due to an injury, but the momentum delivered by England’s second-half switches was integral to the victory they secured. Pick of the bunch – and not for the first time – was the outrageous Pollock.

His enthusiastic animations might not be everyone’s cup of coffee, but forget the hyped celebrations and just savour the in-play contributions. What he does is getting under the skin of an opposition, and it was no different against the All Blacks, a super sub effort capped by the kicked assist he gave Roebuck near the finish.

The collective Pom Squad wasn’t perfect as there were a couple of scrum grumbles and the try New Zealand scored with Ben Earl in the bin was far too easy. Ultimately, though, the bench delivered.

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Losers

New Zealand discipline

Last weekend’s card trouble in Edinburgh put the naughtiness of Robertson’s side under the spotlight. Yes, they ultimately managed to head Scotland off at the pass, but the concession of three yellows wasn’t a good look for a team regularly falling foul of the referees.

It was obviously a huge work-on in the days that followed in London, and it said a lot about the uptick in their behaviour that they ended the first half without conceding a single penalty compared to three given up by England.

This positive note, though, became quickly blotted just 86 seconds into the second half. It was a harsh call from referee Andrea Piardi and his team of officials to sin bin the first-half try scorer, Codie Taylor.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, the cold, hard reality of the decision was that it left New Zealand a player down and soon conceding a converted try to Sam Underhill.

That gave England a lead they were never to lose, and there can be no consolation for the All Blacks that the full-time penalty count was just six penalties conceded to England’s 12.

Cam Roigard

The scrum-half turns 25 on Sunday, but it’s a birthday celebration that won’t be as enthusiastically celebrated as it might have been 20 minutes into this fixture.

Things were going swimmingly with New Zealand two early tries up, but something then happened that curbed the influence of the Kiwi on proceedings and his opposite number Alex Mitchell became the more prominent nine.

With England surging into an early 18-12 second-half lead, it was indicative of the emergency that New Zealand bowlers found themselves in that Robertson’s initial response was to hook Roigard and replace him with Cortez Ratima.

So important was Roigard in Scotland last weekend that he had played the full game last week, but he was sacrificed here very early with Mitchell growing and growing for England.

Roigard wasn’t alone in looking frustrated with New Zealand’s draining battery, as Beauden Barrett looked miserable when he was also called ashore on 55 minutes. It just wasn’t a good day for the outmanoeuvred Kiwi half-backs.

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England’s lineout

England had the early momentum at Twickenham and looked the likelier team, but their set-piece was a contributory reason why they went on to trail 0-12 19 minutes in.

Two Jamie George throws were lost, one on halfway that was stolen and another when defending in their 22 which resulted in a knock-on and a New Zealand scrum.

A third loss followed on 22 minutes with a halfway throw to the front before an improvement followed that included the 30th-minute situation where George collected stolen lineout ball as it fell to the floor from a mischievous English hand.

The ex-skipper limped off four minutes into the second half and while a successful lineout was at the heart of the 55th-minute attack that ended with Dingwall scoring the converted try that put them 25-12 ahead, the end-game statistic of six throws lost in 14 lineouts was a terrible look.

Freddie Steward

It’s fair to say the Leicester full-back has had to do much growing up in recent years – and Saturday at Twickenham was another unfortunate scar.

Ever since that dubious red card in Dublin in 2023, which put an end to an impressively smooth introductory Test rugby run, he has had to endure frequent setbacks and getting hauled off just 22 minutes for a HIA that he went on to fail was another bum note.

He had started well, taking his own kick to get England from one 10-metre line to the other, but his defence then came under scrutiny, particularly in the opening New Zealand try when he bit in rather than staying wide.

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