England vs New Zealand - minute-by-minute

[Puja]

I am going to attempt to do a bit of a hybrid of the usual verbose m-b-ms and the Australia game, as I think there is probably a happy medium to be found somewhere in the middle, which still gives y'all the anal retentive deep dive that's proven so popular, but also doesn't require a literal 30-40 minutes per 5 minutes of gametime from me.

Initial impressions:

Earl was superb. Carried a lot of bad ball and first-phase ball, made metres through contact and put himself about, a lot.
Heyes made a really big impact in the loose and was very busy
We were very good first half and were thwarted by a New Zealand side that were incredibly precise and accurate, with practically no mistakes. As soon as they dropped their level, even a little, they weren't able to hold us out.
Our defence was very passive and we didn't put any pressure on their rucks at all.


Minute 1: Belting start for England. NZ put the kickoff deep into our 22, Mitchell catches it with enough time to set himself, pick his spot, and put an absolutely glorious touchfinder that sets a lineout just inside NZ's half.

NZ win the lineout and send a crash ball down Ford's channel which is dealt with well. They go back to the blind and zigzag several phases down the 15m channel, which are mostly dealt with.

Minute 2: Baxter and Pepper put in a monster of a double tackle to knock NZ back and slow the ball, which is apparently the cue for Roigard to spin it wide. It's static ball to start off and it gets worse as Coles makes a nuisance of the ruck and causes Roigard to have a little juggle at the back, meaning that Underhill has time to pick his target and absolutely smash Lakai as he gets the ball.

NZ get the ball back and a combination of us not folding properly around the corner and Dingwall picking the wrong man and stepping in, leaves Roebuck facing a 2-on-1 out of nowhere. NZ draw and give, leaving Fainga'anuku with a clear run down the line... except that Freddie Steward has played a blinder, read it early and rushed up to get himself in the right position, and then makes it even better by putting an absolutely fantastic tackle in as the winger tries to step him. It stops Fainga'anuku dead in his tracks and Roebuck gets across to strip the ball and win it back to our side.

We secure the ruck and Mitchell calls for a fairly standard 3-man pod to recycle the ball and set up a ruck for a box-kick, but Earl spots that New Zealand have formed their defensive line opposite that pod and haven't bothered to fill in the gap around the ruck. He steps off his left, turns on the afterburners and is frankly unlucky that the inside man pulls out a world-class tackle to turn his full break into a half-break. It's fantastic momentum and quick ball, but unfortunately Mitchell has already decided we're box-kicking and isn't interested in playing with it. Eh, he's probably right in the 2nd minute of the game, but it's still boring!

How is me attempting to be concise going again? Very well, thank you.

Roebuck's unlucky not to get more on his tap-back and New Zealand just about win the ball back.

Minute 3: New Zealand think about going wide, but our defensive pressure is very good and we force them back inside. Roigard then fumbles again at the base and we're unlucky that we overworry about being offside rather than committing to punishing them. They kick long, but Steward has again read the play very well and is under the ball. He kicks a perfectly placed up-and-under, which he then regathers and drives through contact, taking us over the 10m line.

Pepper runs the shittiest 3-man-pod-with-a-pullback you've ever seen - absolutely telegraphed and offering not even the slightest impression that he might go himself or use one of his forward supporters. New Zealand read the Size 72 Impact font of the move and charge up to try and cut off our overlap, but that allows Lawrence to cut inside and run hard. Quick ball and we get it out to IFW on the wing anyway, who also cuts inside and drives through contact to get us close to the 22. Earl demonstrates to Pepper how it's done - looking to George on his shoulder, feigning like a pass could go to either option, before accelerating into contact and bowling De Groot over to win another few metres over the gainline.

We spread it wide and Dingwall times his pass beautifully to create a 2-on-1 - NZ gamble and try to rush up on Steward, but he gets the ball in and out of his hands in one movement to send Roebuck away down the wing. He could look at going for the corner, but instead takes the safe option and cuts back inside.

Minute 4: Underhill then smashes into contact with an audible crunch and we get more quick ball, which is spread to Ford. New Zealand are well lined up in defence, but a touch narrow - there is space to hang a cross-field kick up and a good one like he put in against Australia would see Pepper score. Sadly, this is not a good one - badly scuffed, too short, wrong angle, and New Zealand gratefully touch it down for a goalline drop-out.

We don't read the long drop-out perfectly and Ford has a little juggle from taking the bouncing ball, but has enough time to gather, compose, and put up a !!SPIRAL BOMB!!. It's a touch long, but Barrett is ruined by the spiral and loses it backwards. Carter gathers and looks to go on a 7s run across the pitch, but Heyes puts in a massive tackle (and fair play to him for being in centre-field after a kick and then catching and destroying a winger).

Minute 5: Barrett gratefully makes touch with his clearance and we have a lineout just outside the 22. Clean ball at the back with Coles and we go off the top into midfield. Dingwall attacks the line and makes a lovely late offload to Earl, but unfortunately NZ aren't scared of Dingwall and drift off him to make a big tackle. Earl rides a two-man hit well and his pace and power still see him get over the gainline and present quick ball. At least it *should* be quick ball, but some adroit cheating from Tupaea pins Underhill's leg to the ball and slows it down. Ford then picks the wrong pass and ends up giving IFW one with flashing blue lights on it, but Manny rides the tackle and drives through contact, still making his way to the gainline. Underhill then puts in a heroic clearout when Coles is knocked back next phase and it preserves quick ball.

Ford makes a half-break next phase as New Zealand buy the dummy and slide off him. He can't get the pass away, but it's quick ball. Two phases later Dingwall tries the same trick and glides through. NZ react and just about scrag him, but he lifts a lovely inside ball up to Underhill, who attempts a one-handed offload out of the tackle to make a scoring pass for Lawrence, but he can't quite get his enough on it and the ball goes forward. Difficult pass, but you feel that's a second try gone begging in the space of 2 minutes.

[Puja]

Minute 6: The scrum is just about completed in the minute - Heyes gets a little bit of an attack going, but NZ have the ball in and out before he can make much of it.

Minute 7: Lakai picks from the base and runs at Ford, who goes very high at the ball. Poor choice as Underhill is slow getting off the scrum and Lakai makes ground up to the edge of the 22. Roigard clears well and it's England lineout about 8m inside our half.

Shocking lineout drill from England there. 4-man lineout, Coles rushes to the front to look like he's jumping, so NZ follow and mark front ball. We then take a moment to make sure NZ are ready, before Coles turns and runs out of the lineout, allowing Itoje to come forward and jump at 2 in the place Coles vacated. The place where New Zealand are still waiting patiently, having not moved from having followed Coles there. I have absolutely no idea what that was meant to accomplish or how Coles running away was supposed to spook NZ, but it didn't work at all. All it did was make sure their jumping pod was slightly in front of ours as we throw a simple front ball and, shockingly, get it pinched. An idea that needs to go back to the drawing board there. We are lucky that Lord is so excited about stealing the ball that he slaps it back to his side hard enough to cost them 15 metres.

Minute 8: New Zealand feed a couple of phases into our tacklers before Barrett kicks long. Steward runs it back well and it looks like we're going forward runner, crash up again, but Ford has spotted something and is sprinting into first receiver and screaming for it. New Zealand attempt to rush up and cut him off, but he puts a misspass over the top and nice hands give IFW a run down the left. Great break and he makes an extra 5-6 metres from pumping his legs in contact, to bring us to the edge of the 22, only for Savea to put his hands in as the second entrant into an already formed ruck (with Carter lying on the wrong side and interfering with our clear as well) and be rewarded by the referee with a NZ penalty. Wild. It's an even weirder decision considering the ref has given it as holding on on the floor, when IFW has placed the ball and doesn't have his hands anywhere near it - Savea is actually wrestling with Mitchell at 9 for the ball. Never mind - no ref, no game.

Minute 9: NZ have a lineout just inside our half - Itoje is doing a lot of shouting and screaming and appears to be in a competing position, but doesn't actually jump, so free ball for them. Dingwall and Lawrence make a good tackle in midfield to stop things dead, so Roigard puts up the high ball. Steward doesn't do a great job under this one and gets too far across to catch it properly. Instead, he slaps it wildly back to no-one in particular and, because the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you, it kicks off the turf and accelerates towards the England line, travelling over 20 metres before Earl can get his hands on it. He's done a terrific job to be first man back there, but he gets buried by Tupaea. England do well and manage to get enough players back to secure a ruck on our own 5m line.

Minute 10: We reset and Mitchell puts in another belting kick - finding touch 43m out when starting from his own try-line. Another uncontested NZ ball and it goes off the top and down Ford's channel again. Decent enough defence and we settle in to defend our 10m line.

[Puja]

Minute 11: More easily defended NZ attack until Barrett plays 9 and pulls a Bergamasco. Parker sweeps around to gather and makes a muscular carry to rescue affairs. Roigard then makes some more ground back with a little snipe and we're lucky to get away with the referee letting Pepper have three warnings to leave the ball alone without penalising him. Swings and roundabouts.

A series of phases of ill-advised NZ players choosing to run into big tackles from England players culminates in Tupaea taking too much thinking time and getting castled by Joe Heyes smashing him from his blind spot.

Minute 12: Roigard once again takes the ball from the base and then takes a lot of personal time before making the pass, allowing England to shoot up. The pressure causes another pass to the floor and NZ are lucky that Mitchell can't complete a tackle on Proctor, otherwise they'd be screwed, a long distance behind their forward pack. As it is, they can kick it long, where Steward is not under it for some reason? Luckily the bounce isn't terrible and he can gather, but he then makes a horrendous hash of his clearance kick, mishitting it so badly that it's charged down by someone 7m away from him! The ball nearly ricochets to Lawrence tracking back, but unfortunately Fainga'anuku reacts best and hurls himself full length at the bobbling ball to make it New Zealand's. The ball is passed back to Barrett, who puts a gorgeous kick over the top of IFW's head to find touch inside the 22.

Minute 13: This is terrific lineout defence from NZ. England set at the front with Pepper and look like they're going there, but instead the back lifter of the front pod turns and lifts Coles in the middle - it should be uncontested ball, but somehow Newell reads it, abandons his front pod and makes the same movement, leaving a one-on-one jump between Coles and SBarrett that Coles will never win because he's trying to catch, not spoil. If I had to be critical, I'd say that Pepper could've done a better job of faking a jump at the front to make Newell commit, but overall that's just another team doing a great job.

Itoje very nearly rescues things by bursting through the line to secure the tap-back, but the referee calls him for a slightly harsh knock-on and it's a Kiwi scrum.

Time stopped for an injury for a bit, so we do get the scrum this minute. New Zealand attack Ford's channel and again he goes high, attacking the ball. I don't like that tactic - he's not a massive tackler, but he's okay if he does it properly and right now he's getting carried because Underhill is committing to the scrum and supporting his prop, and is therefore slow off the base.

Minute 14: We let the All Blacks run into some big tackles for a few phases (Underhill and Coles getting some plaudits there), but badly screw up the next phase as Steward misreads Barrett's pass and commits hard to hitting the inside man while leaving Fainga'anuku unmarked for when the misspass reaches him. Steward and Roebuck manage to scramble across to bring him down, but NZ are now on a charge and we're slipping off tackles for the first time. They get up to our line and then Fainga'anuku puts in a terrific driving finish for a try, going underneath Underhill and George, who will both feel that they could've done better there.

Minute 15: The Spidercam replay confirms that that try is all Steward's fault. He has had such a good start to the game, but he abandons his wing to lunge in on Carter - I don't know whether he is worried that Roebuck doesn't have him covered and feels he must step in, or whether he thinks he has perfectly read the play and is going to smash him man-and-ball, but whichever it is, he is utterly wrong in his assessment. It is criminal to abandon your opposition winger and step in on an already covered inside man, especially when that gives the winger aQQqqqZZZ13m width to run in.

Underhill doesn't cover himself with glory either - he rushes out next phase, trying to be a hero and misses the ball carrier entirely, losing us more ground and more momentum. Then he's part of the failed tackle on Fainga'anuku that neither drives him back, nor gets under him to stop the grounding. It's a good finish and execution from NZ, but also some very average play in defence from two good players.

Barrett misses the conversion by a whisker and it remains 0-5 to the bad guys. Still, at least it can't get any worse? Right?

Right?

[Puja]

Minute 16: Ford kicks off and it's about 10cm from being an absolute belter of a restart kick - high, hanging, dropping just on the edge of the 22 and with Lawrence and IFW hunting it down. Unfortunately, those 10cm cause it to bounce on the touchline instead of infield for an All Black to catch and be smashed into touch, so it's back for a scrum on the halfway line.

Minute 17: This is play of the match for me. Because the scrum mark is set on the halfway line, it counts as being always inside the NZ half (in the same way that you can call a mark if you have one foot inside the 22). That means that NZ can get it to the back, and Roigard can use the additional space granted by the law change that keeps the opposition 9 back at the tunnel, to take his time and belt a kick over the top of England's flat defence and roll it into touch inside the 22. It's functionally impossible to defend - because the scrum is middle of the pitch, both wingers need to be up to defend and the full-back has to be in the middle to cover both sides, leaving acres of room for the kick. It just has to be executed well and boy howdy, does Roigard pull it off. I presume it was coach-led and training-park practiced, but it is really intelligent rugby to spot an opportunity in a very niche scenario, and terrific skill to pull it off.

NZ throw their well-earned lineout to the back and form a pseudo-maul to such our forwards in, before pulling it out and chucking it wide.

Minute 18: This is a lovely training park move. Tied the forwards in, deep pull-back to try and sucker England into blitzing, moved Roigard to first receiver so that BBarrett can stand wider, and give him three close options with Jordan hidden behind, looping around. IFW blitzes, slows to try and read which of the close runners the ball is going to and then, by the time he realises the answer is d) none of the above, Jordan is already going at pace and his sideways arc is good enough to beat him. Steward has to step in to tackle him and, while he does put in a phenomenal tackle to prevent the immediate try, New Zealand have stretched us so far that they can just wang the ball to the opposite wing. Even when it hits the deck, Taylor has enough time and space to gather it and step inside Mitchell (the only defender on that side of the pitch) to score New Zealand's second.

Minute 19: BBarrett nails the conversion, having been given the sighter 3 minutes before. 0-12 - I won't lie to you; I was in a foul mood at this point, as I was convinced we'd fucked it. No way we could come back from a 12 point deficit against NZ - we might be able to get close, like Scotland did, but we'd expend so much energy that they could pull away in the closing stages, as they always do.

Ford kicks off and it is significantly less ambitious than his last one - significantly infield, shallower, and deeper. Not an unfair reaction, but it give New Zealand easy ball to reset and kick upfield.

Minute 20: Steward gets comfortably underneath the box-kick, leaps in the air to take it and... just fails to catch it? Looks like it bounces off his chest and he lands heavily on his back. I don't know if he's concussed already at this point or if it's the landing that does for him, but that's a weird miss from him and a bad one if it's not due to concussion.

The ball bounces nicely to Roigard who makes the excellent decision to dab an end-over-end kick into the space vacated by Steward. Ford chases back, gets the bouncing ball under control, and then kicks long. Unfortunately that just gives BBarrett time and space to pick his play, and he runs to the line and chips over the top. Earl does a tremendous job to read it and get back to catch the ball - he gets smashed for his troubles, but we keep hold of possession.

We run a phase to set for the box-kick, but send it back to Ford for the Garryowen. Steward is first under it and does well to tap it back for an onrushing Coles to run onto. Coles decides against the risky offload and drives through contact, making ground over the 10m line.

We have good attacking ball, but look dishevelled and shell-shocked, the perfect example of which is Mitchell attempting to set for an attacking box-kick, only for Baxter to attempt to join the ruck just as he picks the ball up to kick into the space Baxter is now blocking.

[Puja]

That'll do us for this evening. More to follow tomorrow.

Puja

[Mr Mwenda]

Wow, what a treat so soon after the game. Thanks, Puja!

I have a feeling aren't down and out just yet!

[Danno]

Wow, what a treat so soon after the game. Thanks, Puja!

I have a feeling aren't down and out just yet!

Seconded. Thanks as always Puja.

[Which Tyler]

Yay.
Thanks Puja, look forward to reading the rest

[Danno]

Just want to tickle your chin a little Puja to say I really appreciate your prose. This is a super rugby nerd endeavour that I would read regardless, but you always manage to entertain as well as inform.

(That should help if I'm ever up for a ban)

[Scrumhead]

Sterling work as ever Puja. Looking forward to the next bit.

[loudnconfident]

Sterling work as ever Puja. Looking forward to the next bit.

+1. Thx Puja.

[Puja]

Thank you all. The kind words are very much appreciated and 100% influence my ability to get these things done. I absolutely work for praise!


Minute 21: Earl takes bad ball and runs at the gap between two players. Once again, good play, good momentum, lost by Mitchell reverting to the plan he already had. Box kick is executed at second time of asking, but it wasn't worth waiting for as it was too long and an easy mark for NZ to clear with.

The mark isn't kicked to touch and instead goes to Ford, who has loads of time to put up a !!SPIRAL BOMB!!. Steward is on the chase and looks to have knocked it on, but the ref says he can't see anything conclusive, so we're fine to play on when Pepper takes the loose ball. He makes good ground and takes us to the edge of the 22.

Steward plays 10 down the blindside - New Zealand are numbered up in defence, so he dabs through a perfectly weighted little grubber which turns Jordan and traps him down in the corner with an onrushing Roebuck. For a moment, it looks as though Jordan's reluctance to take it into touch might backfire, but he gets lucky with the last roll and it dribbles into touch 5m out.

Minute 22: Steward is hauled off by the doctors and is both baffled and outraged by any suggestion that he's concussed. From his reaction, I was convinced it was the mouthguard overreacting and he'd be back on, but it's the last we see of him for the day. Just a reminder of how subtle a little beggar concussion can be and how good it is that we've got the new technology. Also how far the game has come - we're hauling off a player protesting he feels fine, due to a head impact that I still can't identify with a m-b-m (he maybe takes a little contact in that last jump for a high ball?) and it turns out he fails an HIA. Also a reminder of how far attitudes have come - I remember being at Twickenham for England vs South Africa in 2010 (? I think?) where Chris Ashton was staggering around, punch-drunk, clearly unsure where he was, and the treatment was a couple of minutes drinking water with the physios before he was allowed to carry on and play 80 minutes.

Anyway, back to the game. NZ go over the top with the lineout - Jamie George reads it, but he doesn't have the speed to put enough pressure on and puts in an average tackle anyway. Surely that's a job for Pepper or Underhill there? It gives the All Blacks secure ball enough to clear their lines and give England a lineout just inside the NZ half.

The television shows the graphic that England have had just 5% possession in the last 10 minutes, which I can absolutely believe. A large chunk of that was NZ futilely bashing their heads against our defensive line, but we've not had meaningful possession since that dodgy penalty in minute 8 and it's mostly been our own mistakes: poor lineout defence, Steward high ball fail, poor lineout defence, Steward miskick, failure of our own lineout move, Steward mistake in defence, Ford cocked-up restart, Steward high ball fail, poor lineout defence.

Oh, and add to that list another failure of our own lineout move. We do a lot of dancing back and forth which does nothing to attract Kiwi attention. They read us well and get Parker up in front of Itoje - it's not a great throw from George tbf, but that still for me goes down as an inability to manoeuvre NZ to get a clean jump.

Minute 23: NZ just about clear up the loose ball and then put up a high kick - Roebuck isn't hugely convincing, but the bounce of a rugby ball doesn't hate us this time and it pops up into Mitchell's hands. He makes a dummy to sucker Lakai and then passes behind him to Ford, who wangs it wide to where there's actually quite a bit of space.

Earl takes it and we do have an overlap, but Proctor is pushing up looking to cut off the wide pass, so Earl straightens, feints to pass to Lawrence and then accelerates at the gap between two defenders. He breaks through and drags Taylor for long enough to offload to MSmith who is running a terrific inside line. Proctor does an amazing job to throw himself full length for the tap tackle, but England pour through to clear the ruck. Mitchell gets his pass away before being scragged and New Zealand charge up on Ford, who holds his ground to catch and immediately dab the ball inside to Underhill on the burst. He breaks through one tackle, but is scragged by Tupaea and, having learned his lesson from his attempt at a fancy-dan-one-handed offload that went wrong in minute 5, this time he uses both hands to pass to Feyi-Waboso, who is sprinting onto the ball. He beats two players for pace and I was expecting him to go for the corner, but instead he tries to cut inside and drive though, allowing one of the players he beat to come back and help with the tackle. Even with that, we're only 3m away from the tryline and it's quick ball.

Coles is running the crash line and looks a certainty to score, but he goes waaaay too high and upright into contact and gets turtled over the line. Really poor play. One could potentially criticise Mitchell and say that Ford is screaming for it behind Coles and a pass behind would've seen our choice of scorers under the posts, but you have to be disappointed in a lock forward running onto that at such pace, from such a short distance, against a retreating defence, and somehow not even getting close to scoring (although, on replay, neither Fletcher Newell nor Simon Parker are even close to getting back onside before they make their tackles on Coles -Butchered try, but one of the officiating team should've called that for the blatant yellow card(s?) that it was).

A note for the wonderful work of Pepper there, for keeping pace with IFW and being first there to blast over the ruck and secure the ball

Minute 24: NZ kick the drop-out to the edge of the 22 to try and compete - Fainga'anuku and Roebuck go up together and it does look very much like a Roebuck knock-on, but the ref says backwards by black, so Pepper's fine once again to take the loose ball and secure it. Earl is first receiver and once again spots a gap that he steps inside and accelerates into, beating one defender and driving his way through the weak arm tackles of two others to make a solid 5m post-contact before laying beautiful clean ball back. Can't overemphasise how impressed I've been with Earl's play this first 24 minutes - he's not an international 7, but give him freedom to play 8 and beautiful things are currently happening.

Mitchell snipes and goes blind, but no-one is really coming with him, so he passes inside to Coles who seems slightly surprised, but does catch the ball and run a good hard line back into traffic to make more ground. Ball goes out to Earl at first receiver who once again makes ground with a dummy, some footwork, and acceleration into contact. We attempt to go wide, but once again Proctor is shooting up and we decide against the risky pass (this time it's Dingwall having learned his lesson from Australia).

We're still making ground, but it's slowed to a crawl as the ABs have got their line in order again, and it's probably a good thing for us when the ref stops play due to an injured play. Pepper's gone down holding his neck after one too many enthusiastic clearouts - not possible to see why though. Looks as though it might be curtains, but after a brief inspection of his neck, he's fine to continue and we restart with a scrum.

Minute 25: Clever move off the back of the scrum this. We've got Ford, Lawrence and IFW standing on the blindside, with MSmith behind the scrum. Marcus starts it by feigning running to the open, shouting loudly for the ball, which holds the ABs enough that they don't flood blind when Mitchell picks and goes that way. He draws Roigard and passes wide to Ford. Tupaea has come charging up to try and get Ford before he can get the ball through his hands, so Ford drifts sideways to get more time and just lets the ball go in and out of his hands to tip on to Lawrence coming at pace.

Carter has been forced to press up with Tupaea and, in fairness, their blitz has done enough to stop the long try-scoring pass to IFW, but it's left Carter off balance, so when Lawrence makes contact, it sits the winger down and leaves him free to accelerate away and pick up enough speed that he can step inside the frantic Roigard and BBarrett chasing across and make it to the line.

[Puja]

Minute 26: Ford misses a difficult conversion by a whisker - it just fades across the face of the posts at the last minute. Still, 5-12 gives us some hope.

Video replays of the try show that I've actually undersold Lawrence there - it's not just the power of the bosh that gets him through Carter, but also some lovely footwork to take him off balance.

Minute 27: We secure regulation restart and kick for touch - only 40m out this time as Mitchell hooks it a little. Sadly, the good restart fails at the next stage, as Maro can't resist interfering with Lord at the lineout and NZ get a penalty to drive deep. Thankfully BBarrett repays our generosity with some of his own by utterly mishitting his touch kick and putting it touch in goal.

Minute 28: Our scrum - only our second put-in (and the first was because play was stopped for an injured player) and NZ have yet to give away a penalty. This is what I meant by their precision not giving us a foothold - we spent minutes 8-23, a literal 15 minutes, with effectively no possession of the ball, simply because we kept making mistakes that conceded it and they didn't.

New Zealand's props dive for the floor like England have tied £20 notes to their shoelaces, but the ref tells us to play away, so we do. Ford puts in a cross-field kick that probably needs to be a touch shallower - Roebuck claims it, but he's closer to the touchline than he'd like and has to wait for it to come down, meaning he does well to keep himself in play. MSmith is there to take the offload off the deck and we secure the ball. Earl once again is first carrier and once again makes ground with footwork and acceleration, this time to the outside.

Minute 29: We're not looking especially threatening, so Ford drops back and puts up a !!SPIRAL BOMB!!. Feyi-Waboso gets up highest and does a controlled tap back, but unfortunately Roigard has read it and intercepts. I have visions of him streaking the length, but Ford is still in the backfield and setting for the tackle. There is a 2-on-1 which feels like a certain try, but IFW has done a terrific job in landing, realising what's happened, turning and sprinting back, which gets him into the passing lane just at the very second that Roigard has finished fixing Ford and is ready to pass. As a result, Roigard changes his mind and turns his head back to discover that he's done a fantastic job of fixing Ford and gets very solidly tackled.

Quick New Zealand ball and it's back to BBarrett who puts a dainty chip over the top for Savea to run onto. It looks like a guaranteed try, except for the heroics of Jamie George, who shows two incredible bits of nous and experience to save the day. The first is to spot the chip happening before anyone else, realise that everything is disarranged and that he has to take on responsibility and start moving to sweep across and cover. The second is to realise that he is not quite going to get to the ball, but diving for it anyway and "accidentally" ending up sliding into Savea's path as he does. Incredible piece of shithousery and cheating - he's got plausible deniability that he's trying to get the ball and "the bounce of it has just beaten him" and it's a far higher percentage chance of killing the try than any attempt to flap a hand at the ball. Worst case scenario, he stops the try and gets a yellow card, but the best case scenario plays out - Savea goes tumbling, the ball continues bouncing onwards for Pepper to come across and clean up. He passes it onto MSmith who looks at the bevy of Kiwi defenders, has a brief thought of, "I bet I could beat that backrow forward around the corner," then decides better of it and puts in a lovely kick that bounces into touch deep in the NZ half.

Minute 30: Coles does a terrific job of reading the NZ call and gets some revenge by getting up to tap the ball back our way. More Earl being superlative carrying at first receiver and I'm not going to continue to describe it, but his run sets up a ruck where Mitchell can snipe around the corner. He tries to force the offload despite there being All Blacks in the way and the ball goes to deck and is eventually knocked on.

We overfold to the open and NZ use the advantage to jag back blind. We are getting defenders across, but Roebuck doesn't keep faith, jumping up to try and block the short pass, only for a long pass to go over his head to the winger that he just abandoned. Carter accelerates away from Roebuck and puts in a perfect dinked chip over the top of the covering IFW which lands back in his hands without him having to break stride. MSmith makes it across and forces Carter to step inside, slowing him just enough for Roebuck to catch and tackle. Marcus puts in a "tackle" of his own, which doesn't involve a huge amount of arms or bending at the hips, so I think we're lucky the TMO didn't have a good look at that. Carter then tries to offload and Lawrence slaps it down, which I'm fairly certain should be a penalty to NZ, but the ref gives us a penalty at first, then eventually gives a Kiwi scrum, which is *more* correct, but still probably not right.

[Puja]

Minute 31: This minute intentionally left TMOed

Minute 32: No scrums occur in this minute. See, I told you I'd get the hang of this whole 'being concise' malarky!

Minute 33: Heyes puts a huge amount of pressure on the scrum, some of it potentially legally. We then get almost a carbon copy of the first try - New Zealand go wide, our fullback doesn't have faith in Roebuck so steps in, the ball goes wide to Fainga'anuku who is pleased to be left all on his own. In MSmith's defence, Roebuck is desperately struggling and probably beaten, so it probably needed doing. IFW gets across and Fainga'anuku attempts to run over him, which mostly works, but Manny keeps hold of enough of his legs to bring him down with help from the cover. He then picks himself up, goes to stand at guard and makes the next tackle as well when New Zealand rumble around the corner. Not only that, he bounces back to his feet and drives straight through the ruck - Underhill and Earl join him and we pile over to win the turnover. There is definitely an argument that we kick the ball forwards as we ruck through, as is there an argument that Maro isn't allowed to dive on the ball within 1m of a ruck, but there is also an argument that we got away with it, so it's fine.

Earl makes another carry up the guts and turns our 3m-out ruck into a 7m-out ruck, which allows Mitchell to clear.

Minute 34: Our pack looks shattered, which makes it disappointing that Mitchell's kick doesn't find touch. However, they all step up to the plate - Itoje makes a terrific tackle to stop the initial counter, then Heyes blitzes out of the line to pressurise BBarrett (and tackles him anyway for good measure, on the basis of "I was committed!").

Minute 35: Phase after phase goes by and England keep putting in solid, stopping tackles - Itoje, George, Underhill, Itoje, George, Dingwall, George, Itoje, Dingwall, until eventually it's spoiled by Pepper getting a bit overenthused and going for a jackal where one really wasn't available, giving away the penalty.


That's all I have for the moment, but maybe some more this evening.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 36: The penalty is 40m out and in front of the posts. With the score at 5-12 and the defence looking very solid, it'd be the height of arrogance to kick for the corner rather than taking the points and stretching the lead out. Naturally, that's what New Zealand do, and it's with great amusement that I watch BBarrett once again fail to make touch from a penalty. This time it stays infield and Mitchell kicks it long, but not to touch. It is a difficult angle, mind, but his forwards will be screaming at him after the amount of effort that they've just been putting in.

Still, we pick ourselves up and come up as a defensive line to meet them. George and Underhill put in a strong double-tackle to bring down the initial counter and we defend solidly on our 10m line for a few phases, before BBarrett drops deep and launches a high ball up on MSmith. Not a terrible idea, but it's far too long and no-one ever seems particularly keen on chasing, so Marcus has all the time in the world to catch and counter. He can't quite round Proctor on the wing, so he puts a nice grubber down the touchline and, while NZ do gather it back, they're now back on their 10m line.

BBarrett wangs it 20m infield and, against other England sides of other eras, that'd get them around the kick chase and there'd be space in the midfield as puffing forwards struggled to get into position and found themselves one-on-one with nasty backs and their filthy sidesteps. Today, Jordan catches the big inside wahoo only to find an organised and coherent defensive line. Full marks to Phil Morrow and Dan Tobin - the pack are being worked half to death in the last 5-10 minutes and they're still meeting their marks.

Minute 37: Further proof is offered when NZ try going to the wing, only for Itoje to get across and tackle and George to strip the ball. Mitchell kicks again and keeps it infield again, but the forwards won't mind that one so much, as it's an instant turnover kick behind the disarranged Kiwis that bounces right to the edge of the tryline. BBarrett is chasing wearily back and willing it to cross the line, but it won't go, so he has to play it and kick out, under pressure from Mitchell's chase, earning England a lineout just outside the 22.

Healey scolds England for not having chased down BBarrett there after that kick and I'm baffled that he has so little sympathy for how hard the entire team has just worked. That was a supreme result for England.

Perfect lineout move as well to secure the ball - Itoje dummies obviously at the middle, then rushes to the front, so NZ follow, only for the ball to go over the back to Coles. Parker actually reads it really well and gets up in front of Coles, but George has launched an absolutely top-drawer throw that soars over his despairing reach and lands perfectly into Coles's hands at the top of his leap. We set a decent maul, but Parker cheats and comes around the side without penalty, so we play away and send Earl on the crash ball, which he once again does a brilliant job at.

Minute 38: We run through some phases of forward runners - we're making ground, but it's slow going and we're not really distressing or disarranging the Kiwi defence. Keep going at this and there's a 10% chance of a try from persistence, but it'll much more likely end in a turnover when someone gets tired and misses a clearout. As such, Ford drops back into the pocket and slots the drop goal with the greatest of ease. Fantastic leadership and 100% the correct decision. 8-12 feels like a lot better score and it's a momentum shift after having gone through such a long period of NZ mostly being on top.

Minute 39: Coles goes high through a lifting pod to take the restart and we see once again New Zealand playing a niche clever scenario from the lawbook. From most kicks, a catcher tackled immediately and held up gives a scrum to the catching side, but that is not true from a kick-off, so NZ immediately wrap up Cole as he lands and start shouting at the ref that it's got to be a turnover for a stationary maul. Thankfully Coles manages to get enough of himself to floor that we can make a ruck out of it, which Mitchell box-kicks away. NZ seem to lose it in the air and Roebuck is able to jump and take it uncontested.

We get quick ball and get it wide - Dingwall does a great job to take it to the line and offload to MSmith who is running a terrific line into the 13 channel. Carter has to step in, but Marcus throws a gorgeous pass just before the tackle to set IFW free down the left.

He takes play up to the 22 before stepping inside and getting dragged down, but we've got players in support to ruck over and it's quick ball.

Minute 40: We attack at the 22 through several phases - Heyes, Dingwall, and MSmith making good impactful runs - but we're once again not doing enough damage to disarrange the NZ line. MSmith appears to get a minor clothesline from De Groot which the crowd don't like, but Piardi calls play-on and I think he's probably right as he is falling into the tackle. It slows our ball right down though, so Mitchell runs a forward pod to resuscitate quick ball and then flicks it back to Ford in the pocket who slots over another drop-goal for 11-12. Terrific play. Simply terrific and wresting back the momentum of the match before half-time.

Minute 41: New Zealand kick off long, for some reason, allowing Mitchell to take completely uncontested and languidly walk the ball into touch. We will take the shit out of 11-12 at the break, considering where we were after 20 minutes, but I'm surprised New Zealand aren't backing themselves to have one last go and try to turn the momentum back again.