New Zealand vs England - First Test minute-by-minute

[Puja]

Initial impressions:
NZ dominated the first half and lucky to escape 10-10
On the flip-side, our defence was incredible and was only actively stressed on one occasion (the Reece try). Every other occasion was either England having everything under control or that one bad missed tackle by Earl.
Underhill was amazing, CCS was amazing, Earl less so.
The game changed when BBarrett and Spencer came on - one started dominating territory and the other decided to cede all possession.
The ref was solidly fine.
MSmith's general play more than made up for his goal-kicking
And lastly, I'm starting a counter now, cause I think I saw plenty of these when watching live: Hit On McKenzie Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off


Let's see how many of those hold up.

Minute 1: NZ kick deep and Mitchell gets an easy catch and chance to clear to touch... except that he doesn't quite make it. Long kick that lands in Kiwi hands on the touchline just in front of their 10m. It's passed inside to Perofeta and this could be dangerous, except England have come up in an absolute wall. Underhill blitzes and levels Perofeta with a text-book perfect low tackle to set the tone.

NZ recycle and the ball is played out the back to McKenzie, but both Earl and Slade have read it and charge up to threaten him - the ball gets away, but we do get our first:

Hit On McKenzie Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Slade x1

IFW is up in line with them and attempts to do his blitz defence role of sprinting sideways once the pass is released, but NZ are either lucky or well prepared and Papalii is standing offside in just the perfect place to block IFW's line, meaning Ioane gets a free run. England are coming across well though and Ioane is forced to pass on to Telea who is well-covered and cuts back inside to be tackled by our forwards. Earl chops him, Itoje takes the ball - touch and go whether that ball is ripped before Telea hits the deck or if it should be an AB penalty, but Maro is allowed away with it.

Lawrence, Martin, and George secure the ball superbly and Underhill passes it out to the backs who are screaming for it. Furbank feeds Smith and we've got a 3-on-3 with Smith/Slade/Freeman facing against NZ 2/6/14 in nearly half the pitch, which should be ideal, but we're clearly not on the same page. Smith passes quickly, clearly wanting Slade to go wide and attack Finau's outside shoulder to try and put Freeman in a 2-on-1, but Slade thinks Smith is going to run at the forwards and is hoping to be on the end of an offload and so is far too narrow. It ends up with Taylor being able to drift to leave us with a 2-on-3. Smith attempts to loop and there is a possibility if Slade straightens and feeds him, or if he kicks behind Reece for Freeman to chase, but instead he chucks the ball at Freeman, something that was never on even if his pass wasn't miles above Freeman's head. Poor Tommy gets his ribs examined by a relieved Reec and the ball bounces loose.

NZ do gather the loose ball and have a bit of offloading down the touchline, but they run out of space and Smith thumps Finau into touch just outside our 22.

Busy first minute!

Minute 2: England throw to CCS at the front, form a maul and then play away immediately with Earl, who runs sideways to interest the guard defenders before popping to Lawrence on the crash ball. Excellent play and it gains us a full 10m when we were under pressure. Caterpillar and box - it's just too long for Freeman to contest, but he does well to make it through the weaving Kiwi blockers and bring McKenzie down as he catches. Martin and Stuart very nearly perform a big counter-ruck, but the ball gets away into midfield when Underhill is once again tackling hard and behind the gainline.

Perofeta goes for the cross-field kick, but it's too far ahead of Ioane and bounces into touch. Even if it'd landed in his hands though, he was getting bundled into touch by a tag-team of Feyi-Waboso coming across and Furbank coming up from the back. Well under control.

Minute 3: England go for a short lineout and look like they're dummying at the front before moving back, as they have done so many times under Borthwick. However, they catch NZ by surprise by the dummy just being easy front ball instead and NZ are undone by their own video analysis. Off the top and flung wide into midfield where Smith sends Earl on his 12 crash ball line to great effect. It's very quick ball and I'd like to've seen us continuing to go wide, but it's clearly a pre-planned move as Mitchell puts up the instant box-kick high ball. It lands just outside the 22 and McKenzie receive the ball at about the same time as being thumped by IFW and Slade.

NZ run a phase where they're tackled back into their 22 and then kick for touch, giving an England lineout on the 10m line - we've moved forwards about 12 metres and hurt the opposition fly-half, so I guess it was a worthwhile play.

Minute 4: This time we do go through the 2 dummies and jump routine and it looks to be excellent back ball through CCS, but Finau does an incredible job to spring up late and flip the ball from his hands - you just can't be cross with that, as sometimes an opposition player is going to pull out something superb and you just have to applaud.

We actually do recover the ball, as Itoje is fastest to react and slaps it back to Mitchell, but the 9 gets overexcited at the opportunity to run at the dishevelled defence and fails at the "catching-the-ball" part of the job, resulting in a Kiwi scrum.

Minute 5: Lomax is packing down very low and very overextended and it takes very little effort from Marler to encourage him to the ground on engage. Solid skulduggery there from Marler and this should be an easy 3 points for MSmith.

[Puja]

Minute 6: Should, being the operative word. The Caketin effect does for another English kicker and it's hooked to the left of the posts. Poor miss.

Minute 7: NZ kick long and England field and send Furbank on the run. He tries Savea for pace and gets halfway through the gap, drawing in another defender and bringing England up to halfway. Quick ball and Slade is playing 10, but he's doing his best Farrell impression by immediately resorting to a low grubber that's blocked. The ball bounces up into NZ's hands and it's the definition of a KADAB, but Lawrence does a great job of driving in on a counter-ruck and hooking the ball back to our side. Was he entirely through the gate? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's at least "legal enough".

NZ have sent numbers into the ruck to recover the ball and set up for their own attack, so they're completely out of shape when Mitchell pounces on the loose ball and runs across the pitch. He flings a wide ball to Earl and JBarrett saves a certain try by rushing up - he doesn't make the tackle, but he forces Earl to step inside and run himself. If he is half a second slower, Earl passes onto Smith and he gets to either score himself or put Freeman in for a 40m walk-in. Instead, Earl has to step JBarrett and run himself. He's tackled and offloads out to Mitchell, only for JBarrett to once again save a try by getting into the passing lane which would've seen a Smith/Freeman 2-on-1 again. Instead, Mitchell has to run himself, is tackled, and then Taylor puts in a phenomenal long jackal to rip the ball back NZ's way. They chuck it wide and suddenly Freeman is facing a 2-on-1 instead of being allowed to score one. He does ridiculously well, tackling one player and then bouncing to his feet to tackle the second as well!

England listen well, as the ball really does look out at that ruck, but the ref says no, so we stay back. NZ attempt to go wide, but a great read on the blitz from Slade sees the ball go loose from JBarrett. IFW pounces on the loose ball and makes it over the line, but unfortunately I woke the dog with my shouting on Sat morning for nothing, cause it was a knock on in the tackle. Back for the scrum.

Minute 8: Replays make Slade look a touch lucky, as the ball is nearly away from JBarrett before it brushes Slade's hands on the way through, and NZ technically have an overlap, but a look at the wider picture shops this is a feature, not a bug - JBarrett is rushing his pass under immense so it's likely to be wild anyway, but even if it's absolutely perfect, Ioane is receiving the ball at the same time as a flying Welsh English winger and would be absolutely castled 20m behind the gainline. Frankly, the knock-on is the best possible result for NZ there. Every time I do one of these m-b-ms, I am taken aback by the organisation and security of what looks on first view to be absolute bloody defensive chaos. Looks like we're hanging on by the skin of our teeth to a casual viewer, whereas we're actually very, very comfortable.

Minute 9: England once again encourage NZ to the floor very early, but the ball has been hooked and the ref says that NZ should play it away. McKenzie puts in a lovely low scudding touchfinder to give England a lineout just inside our half. NZ are chirping to the referee a lot about that scrum - they had a little bit of a shove going, but they're hitting the deck because England are refusing to meet them on that lower level, so I don't know what they want out of the ref. I am terrified of Nic Berry's interpretation in game 2 though.

Our lineout is absolute clownshoes though - we dummy at the front with CCS, NZ go back to follow Itoje and CCS does the thing where he stands at the front and shouts for the short throw. Unfortunately, he is a) 100% the correct option, as NZ have stopped paying attention and he could have an easy run one-on-one against Perenara, and b) not paying attention himself. His shout for the ball is a token dummy and he turns his back before his mouth even shuts, but sadly, George spots the situation, reacts to his teammate shouting for the ball in the clear with his hands up and dobs it towards him. The short pass, which would've been perfectly fine if CCS had caught it on the 5m line, turns out to be very wonky once it goes more than 5m and NZ will have the scrum.

Lesson hopefully learned for the young 6 (that I had drilled into me at age 11) - always expect the ball if you shout for it, even if you're convinced you're only the dummy option. Good decision-making by George there and a shame it didn't come off.

Minute 10: De Groot makes absolutely no effort to scrummage legally against Stuart there. As soon as the ball is fed, he's popped his bind and is driving up and sideways. Unfortunately, Lomax puts enough pressure on Marler that he gets a little bit of forward movement while NZ pile though our destabilised tight-head side, so it looks like a dominant scrum to the ref and he gives them the penalty. Frankly though, if the touchjudge can't call that one, he needs to buy a ticket and go sit with the rest of the spectators. Rubbish call.

[Puja]

Minute 11: NZ kick the penalty for touch, getting 10m out. A touch arrogant from the ABs there - they'd be going for the posts if this was against South Africa. They do a good drill and go up uncontested in the middle, but England pile through to prevent any forward drive, meaning Papalii has to play away from the back.

Minute 12: Papalii attempts to run over Feyi-Waboso and discovers that he's a good tackler. NZ attempt a pick and go, but George is in position quickly and there's no gap there. Savea fumbles the pick-up as he's looking up at George and we shall return for moar scrummaging

Minute 13: Not in this minute though.

Minute 14: NZ engage early, but the ref lets them away with it and resets. However, on the second go, England delay the put-in and let NZ drive and get a free-kick and an easy clearance of their lines. Cockiness not playing off for NZ.

Slade kicks to just inside the half and NZ have the lineout. It's thrown to the middle and... well, I've seen straighter, let's just put it that way. NZ form a really good maul and roll it around England expertly. England do defend well and force it legally to ground, but Taylor is hanging on the back and breaks the second it stops. Smith stops him and CCS comes across to finish the tackle, but NZ do still have good forward momentum. They fling it into midfield and Jordie Barrett runs at Martin, proving that the Kiwis have not done their opposition research, although I suspect Barrett now has a nice black and blue reminder not to do that again in the future. The touch-judge calls a penalty advantage for England being offside but, with the benefit of a replay and a pause button, it's clearly a poor call. Doesn't matter much, as we never come back to it, but Justice 4 Slado needs to be a thing.

NZ play with the advantage, but they're being pressed back and passing for the sake of passing under advantage, and McKenzie is going backwards and sideways.

Minute 15: Eventually McKenzie does an overhead hook-shot pass to go over the blitz and get to Telea. England run across to cover him, but he steps back inside and accepts the tackles from the forwards to keep possession. NZ attack again, this time with more structure, but low, aggressive tackles from Martin and Underhill are chopping them down behind the gainline. Unfortunately Earl makes a mistake in defence - he overreads and is looking to get in position for the next phase before the first one is even done. His job role is to be on the inside shoulder of George, so when Ioane steps inside and drives through George's low tackle, he should be providing the midriff part of the double-tackle and smashing him backwards. Instead, he's taken aback by the step and overruns, meaning Ioane can kick out of George's tackle and make a half-break.

Earl does recover to bring him down, but instead of another hit behind the gainline and slowed ball, it's now forward movement, quick ball, and England on the back-foot and McKenzie takes advantage with a glorious flat miss-pass to set Reece away down the right. Furbank is in position to cut him off and force him inside (where CCS brutalises him), but NZ have momentum. We attempt to wrest that back by charging up and NZ attempt to round up by sitting deep. The passes take NZ a full 20m backwards and hit the deck, but unfortunately it does bounce nicely for Telea who beats Mitchell and then has room. Martin does well to cover across, but the offload to Tuipulotu gives him a free run and, while we make the tackle, Perofeta picks and goes to get into our 22.

We can't slow the Kiwi ball, but Furbank decides to be a hero and reads the next play perfectly to absolutely blindside Ioane and tackle him man-and-ball. It's a great tackle and he rolls away, bounces to his feet to get back in the defensive line, only to have Perenara pass the ball cheaply into him to buy the penalty. It's a fair cop, cause he did stand up and get in the way of the NZ attack, but nothing he could've done.

Even worse, Savea slaps a lazy boot at the ball, it ricochets off Martin, bounces off Perenara's attempted catch, and lands straight in Papalii's hands so they can play with the advantage. Jammy gits!

[Puja]

Minute 16: The lucky bounce gives Papalii a run against disorganised defence - while we shut him down, it's instant ball for NZ. George comes charging up to lead the blitz, but Marler is clearly struggling and doesn't come with him, leaving a dog-leg for Tuipulotu to run into. Marler and Underhill come together to bring him down, but it's more forward movement, more quick ball and, when the ball comes back, we aren't properly aligned. England haven't got a second sweeper in place to cover a potential chip down the middle, which means Marcus Smith hasn't pushed far enough across to cover the cross-field. McKenzie sits deep and puts in a wonderful kick that Reece can take in his stride, and Freeman does well to get back and make sure he only scores in the corner.

Minute 17: Replays. One could argue that we needed to do more to make a mess of NZ ball, but doing that would deprive us of bodies in defence and, frankly, NZ attacked and cleared out really well. They got a stroke of luck with the bounce of the ball twice, but realistically, I think we have to chalk that try up to "sometimes really good teams will score against you."

McKenzie misses the difficult conversion, leaving it 5-0 to the bad guys.

Minute 18: Baxter is on - Marler did look like he was clinging on in that last set of phases. Big time to make a debut.

England kick long and Freeman makes another good low tackle, despite having to weave his way around 70 Kiwi blockers. NZ go through a forward phase to reset (and are actually monstered backwards a few metres by Stuart) and then kick away to touch inside the England. I think we're going to say, "Furbank judges that very well" as he steps away from the catch to let the ball land on the line.

Minute 19: England go for a short lineout and get Baxter into the game early by having him lift for Itoje to take. We form a maul and make a nice 5m gain before Mitchell brings it out and kicks. It's too long and not enough height on it (which is unusual for Mitchell nowadays), and McKenzie skins IFW on the wing, before stepping into a double-tackle from CCS and Baxter that very firmly stops him. NZ run one more phase before setting up a mini caterpillar and box-kicking

It lands on MSmith near the touchline, about 25m out, but there's not a single Kiwi player within 15m, so he goes on a bit of a run. He arcs infield, attracting a few defenders and pops it off to Furbank who is running hard on the switch. He steps through a gap and puts on the burners, beating two players and just getting dragged down by the third, but Martin and Itoje are over the ruck instantly and it's perfect ball. Mitchell sweeps in and picks up the ball on the run, dummying to the runners flooding through and then going himself when the NZ defence bites.

Minute 20: Mitchell finds the gap and accelerates, leaving Telea in his wake and offloading to IFW out of a tackle, but unfortunately Manny's run is curtailed by Mitchell's tackler's legs (accidentally) tripping him as he starts to accelerate. He hurls the ball hopefully backwards as he slides towards touch, and Baxter is there to gather and barge into a few defenders to recycle the ball.

We go one more phase with Earl crashing up off Smith's pass, and it's quick ball. New Zealand are short on numbers, but make up for it by flying up and cutting off all passing options. Smith puts the grubber through and it is 100% the right call - there is masses of space behind Reece where he's charged up and McKenzie is in the same position as Smith was 4 minutes ago; there's no way he can get across to the wing to cover any kind of cross-field kick. Unfortunately, Smith chooses poorly and goes for the straight grubber through, which McKenzie is in position to get to ahead of Slade. Not a KADAB, cause it was the right call to kick, but poor choice of kick. Chance missed.

NZ kick the drop-out long and we pass to Furbank, but NZ have learned a little respect and have a good kick-chase up now. He still accelerates inbetween two props to give us a little bit more go-forward, and the ball is quick for Mitchell to pass away.

[Oakboy]

Minute 2 - we throw to CCS. I'll be intrigued to hear how often we threw to Curry and Coles when they came on. Apart from losing CCS's carrying, we also lost his line-out presence. What that automatically leads to is more pressure on Itoje. More and more, I'm leaning towards Roots being on the bench.

[Danno]

Lovely stuff Puja, thanks.

[Banquo]

just on the lineouts, think we are in danger of overdosing on the cleverness....see the clownshoes moment, plus various hoky cokys of complicatedness. I guess when the coach is slightly bored he works on variations of variations.

[Banquo]

Minute 2 - we throw to CCS. I'll be intrigued to hear how often we threw to Curry and Coles when they came on. Apart from losing CCS's carrying, we also lost his line-out presence. What that automatically leads to is more pressure on Itoje. More and more, I'm leaning towards Roots being on the bench.

as someone else said sort of...why take Roots when Ted Hill is available. (we threw a fair bit to Coles iirc, his lineout is excellent, even if he isn't a 6)

[Puja]

Minute 2 - we throw to CCS. I'll be intrigued to hear how often we threw to Curry and Coles when they came on. Apart from losing CCS's carrying, we also lost his line-out presence. What that automatically leads to is more pressure on Itoje. More and more, I'm leaning towards Roots being on the bench.

as someone else said sort of...why take Roots when Ted Hill is available. (we threw a fair bit to Coles iirc, his lineout is excellent, even if he isn't a 6)

I wouldn't be selecting Roots myself (a match-fit TCurry's ceiling is far above and I'm hopeful that he'll actually be effective next week), but I don't see the answer that Ted Hill is bringing there. The loss for CCS going off was about big strong carrying, especially hard lines through contact, which is something Roots can also do - it's not what you pick THill for. Frankly, it's not what you pick Coles for either.

I'd be worried about going into a game with no lock coverage on the bench though. Itoje and Martin may go 80 again, but they may also pull up injured. I know technically Roots *can* cover and CCS is *capable* there (hells, Dombrandt can do it in a pinch if you wanted to put him in the 19 shirt), but that's not really good enough in a game against the All Blacks.

Puja

[Banquo]

Minute 2 - we throw to CCS. I'll be intrigued to hear how often we threw to Curry and Coles when they came on. Apart from losing CCS's carrying, we also lost his line-out presence. What that automatically leads to is more pressure on Itoje. More and more, I'm leaning towards Roots being on the bench.

as someone else said sort of...why take Roots when Ted Hill is available. (we threw a fair bit to Coles iirc, his lineout is excellent, even if he isn't a 6)

I wouldn't be selecting Roots myself (a match-fit TCurry's ceiling is far above and I'm hopeful that he'll actually be effective next week), but I don't see the answer that Ted Hill is bringing there. The loss for CCS going off was about big strong carrying, especially hard lines through contact, which is something Roots can also do - it's not what you pick THill for. Frankly, it's not what you pick Coles for either.

I'd be worried about going into a game with no lock coverage on the bench though. Itoje and Martin may go 80 again, but they may also pull up injured. I know technically Roots *can* cover and CCS is *capable* there (hells, Dombrandt can do it in a pinch if you wanted to put him in the 19 shirt), but that's not really good enough in a game against the All Blacks.

Puja

Mobility and lineout. Not quite the same I grant you, but a different carrying strength (I'm pretty sure he could carry tight as well, see Tom Croft ). I agree you need a lock, I don't think Tom Curry should be playing tbh for rehab reasons; having all of Underhill, Earl, and Curry does leave you a tad lineout stretched benchwise, though as said about a million times, Curry is a decent option there.

I just don't see Roots as a test player frankly, against the AB's etc for sure. Whereas Hill does have some USP's that may translate.

[Timbo]

We go one more phase with Earl crashing up off Smith's pass, and it's quick ball. New Zealand are short on numbers, but make up for it by flying up and cutting off all passing options. Smith puts the grubber through and it is 100% the right call -

Do you feel the opportunity here was on the phase before, when Earl crashes it up? Someone needed to get the forwards who were lagging in the midfield out the way because outside Smith we had Furbank, Lawrence, Slade and Freeman with a lot of grass and not too many black shirts in front of them.

[Oakboy]

as someone else said sort of...why take Roots when Ted Hill is available. (we threw a fair bit to Coles iirc, his lineout is excellent, even if he isn't a 6)

I wouldn't be selecting Roots myself (a match-fit TCurry's ceiling is far above and I'm hopeful that he'll actually be effective next week), but I don't see the answer that Ted Hill is bringing there. The loss for CCS going off was about big strong carrying, especially hard lines through contact, which is something Roots can also do - it's not what you pick THill for. Frankly, it's not what you pick Coles for either.

I'd be worried about going into a game with no lock coverage on the bench though. Itoje and Martin may go 80 again, but they may also pull up injured. I know technically Roots *can* cover and CCS is *capable* there (hells, Dombrandt can do it in a pinch if you wanted to put him in the 19 shirt), but that's not really good enough in a game against the All Blacks.

Puja

Mobility and lineout. Not quite the same I grant you, but a different carrying strength (I'm pretty sure he could carry tight as well, see Tom Croft ). I agree you need a lock, I don't think Tom Curry should be playing tbh for rehab reasons; having all of Underhill, Earl, and Curry does leave you a tad lineout stretched benchwise, though as said about a million times, Curry is a decent option there.

I just don't see Roots as a test player frankly, against the AB's etc for sure. Whereas Hill does have some USP's that may translate.

I think Roots would be like an unchained lion against NZ, given his roots. I'd have him AND a lock on the bench.

[Mr Mwenda]

Thanks as ever, puja

[Puja]

Minute 21: We go through a phase and then the ball comes wide to Lawrence. There's not much room, but he puts on a bit of footwork to draw up the defence and grubbers through - I think he could've passed to IFW after his footwork, but you can't argue with results, as it's a nice grubber and McKenzie is taken into touch by Feyi-Waboso almost immediately after claiming the ball.

England lineout 5m out and it's a gorgeous drill. Enough movement see Martin going up unopposed at 6th and we look like we're forming a maul. Earl then swings around the back and reverses into contact, with Stuart bound onto him, looking for all the world like it's a trick play of a shift-drive - set up a big obvious maul on the lineout jumper only to have the actual drive come to the side of it. The two NZ players at the back of the lineout pat themselves on the back for reading it and come in to stop the new maul, only for Earl to pop the ball back to CCS running at full speed into the gap that those two defenders have just vacated.

Telea pulls off a miracle of a tackle to bring him down and for a minute Cunningham-South looks like he's reaching out to score, but he thinks better and lays it back. England pile over the ruck to release the ball, and Itoje picks and scores.

Minute 22: Replays and the training ground manoeuvre doesn't get any less slick and beautiful with repetition. Just really nicely done - we needed a try and just picked out a 100% play to buy us one. I think CCS would *probably* have made the grounding if he'd continued with his reach, but it would've been an all-or-nothing move and I'm glad he played it safe.

Smith dots over the conversion and it's 5-7 to the correct team.

Minute 23: NZ kick off to the edge of the 22 and Earl's catch is so amazing that it knocks out the television feed for a moment. When we return, England have set up a ruck and Mitchell is ready to box. Unusually, he makes a proper hash of it, barely getting it 10m forwards, and the error is compounded by Cunningham-South getting first to the ball, but then slapping it back like he thinks he's on a volleyball pitch and looking for a spike. The ball bounces back into Mitchell's shins and forwards and there's a succession of excellent discipline as Baxter, Stuart, Martin, and Underhill all have the instant reaction of "there's a loose ball by my feet and I need to grab that", before recoiling and raising their hands like the bank's being robbed, to stop from giving away a cheap penalty. For once, the bounce of a rugby ball does not hate us entirely, as it rolls towards us rather than into a waiting AB hand, but Earl spills the pickup under pressure, so it's a scrum anyway.

Minute 24: England do well to resist at the scrum, but both sides pop up under pressure - it appears De Groot breaks his bind on slow-motion, but I'd be willing to call that a reset and an invitation for both sides to not fuck about, however the ref gives it to NZ. Harsh pen, that.

NZ play away from the base and go wide quickly to Reece - he steps inside and is brought down, although Smith is a touch lucky no-one looks at the clash of heads as he assists that tackle. NZ play a couple of forward phases in from the touchline, notable mostly for Underhill absolutely wiping out McKenzie just after he's passed it.

Hit On McKenzie Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Slade x1, Underhill x1

However, it's to no avail, as NZ jag back down the blindside. We are numbered up and should be comfortable, but Perofeta makes Earl look like all the pricks of the day by dancing around him and walking through the gap. From there, it's a simple 2-on-1 to put Savea into the corner.

Minute 25: Flatman wants to blame Freeman for blitzing up on the outside man and leaving Earl too much to do, but I have to disagree - it's just a basic missed tackle from Earl. He's more than got the pace to cover the gap, but he gets his spacing all wrong and plants his feet - instead of accelerating into the tackle, he instead leaves his feet too far behind and tries to lunge into it. All that requires is a little backwards and out dance from Perofeta to leave Earl flat on his face.

[Puja]

Minute 26: McKenzie's smirk while he's kicking for goal is really irritating. Doesn't appear to be helping his process either, as he makes a poor contact and clubs it wide.

Just enough time in the minute for England to kick off. Barrett is lifted for it...

Minute 27: ...but Freeman does a belting job of getting a hand in and forcing the fumble and knock-on. Earl does well to wrestle the loose ball down for an England ruck. Quick ball and NZ are short on numbers here! Furbank is up into 10 and hurls a long miss-pass over the top of NZ's attempted blitz. It takes long enough to land in Slade's arms that there's no clear overlap anymore, but there is Smith and Lawrence outside him who could cause havoc if they're passed the ball.

Slade, unfortunately, is back on his Farrell tribute-act bullshit by attempting a grubber through - there is some merit in the idea behind this one, as New Zealand have no-one covering behind (as the winger has come up to try and defend the overlap). A perfect kick could indeed see Lawrence running onto it and scoring unopposed, however, this is not a perfect world and that is not a perfect kick - it dribbles along the ground and is easily swallowed up by Reece. To add insult to injury, the domestic abuser who plead guilty but was discharged without conviction because "it would hurt his rugby career" puts in some quality footwork before lamping it fifty metres downfield to bounce into touch just inside our 22 for a NZ throw. Great decision to go for the grubber, Henry.

NZ attempt to be clever at the lineout by putting Reece and JBarrett in to make an 8-man line, but England defuse it by just... not even attempting to match numbers? At all? Bold decision, but it pays off because no-one pings us for it. NZ win it and then go for a back peel which is met with a stonewall no-arms tackle by MSmith, who then stands up on the wrong side and gets in the way of the clearout - I'd be fuming about the last few seconds of refereeing if I were Kiwi (heavens forfend).

NZ take one more phase of forward runners, before spinning it wide to McKenzie, who does very well to get the ball in and out of his hands quickly, as he then gets absolutely levelled by Furbank charging in from the wing again.

Hit On McKenzie Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Slade x1, Underhill x1, Furbank x1

Does its job as the pass isn't perfect to Telea who then has IFW coming across to tackle.

Minute 28: Telea offloads out of the tackle and NZ pass it back to midfield, but good tackling by England means they're caught on the gainline every time. Eventually, Ioane attempts a no-look pass and Slade redeems himself somewhat with the intercept. He's tackled immediately, but it's solid England ball on the edge of our 22. We run two phases to shift it across for an easier kick, then set up the ol' caterpillar and box routine.

Again, it's not one of Mitchell's best - it's too long to contest, but also doesn't find touch. What it does find is Telea on the run who gets to pick who he wants to run at and chooses the gap outside Will Stuart.

Minute 29: It's poor on the kick-chase from CCS, as he's got detached from his prop to open a hole in our defensive line, and we're punished with Telea making a good 15m before being hauled down. NZ attempt to go wide, but we're aligned well and blitz up - Slade catches Ioane behind the gainline and, while he can't complete the tackle, it does force Ioane into the welcoming arms of Freeman and Lawrence, who wrestle for the ball and force a knock-on.

Minute 30: England do a good job at the scrum - putting enough pressure on the De Groot et al can't fuck about, while getting the ball to the back. Earl picks and goes from the base and decides that he will go through Papalii, who makes a mockery of that idea by felling him with a tackle so textbook that I'm still not sure it wasn't done by Underhill. New Zealand then counter-ruck strongly and turn over the ball. Earl's got a *lot* of credit in the bank, but you can absolutely not do that at international level - you pick and go on your own and attempt to bounce an openside forward, you need to win that collision or you need to never do that again.

NZ go blind with their possession and Perofeta makes a good half-break, but is brought down by the scramble defence. NZ try to go again, but Stuart does a good job of slowing the next ruck's ball, and then we're up hard on the next phase. NZ attempt to outflank us with depth, passing nearly 20 metres back again, but we're equal to it, making the tackle about in line with where the ball started. The up and back has cost us though - we look tired and don't fold to the blindside quickly enough, leaving NZ with a 3-on-2. Lawrence defends well and we end up with a 2-on-2, so Ioane takes contact on our 22. Itoje is over the ball and should really have the jackal, but Perenara levers him away by his neck and NZ play away.

[Puja]

Minute 31: NZ go for a couple of rumbles, but our defence is well-aligned again and we're under no stress. The ref then blows up - a little voice in his ear has told him about the neck roll on Itoje and we're back for an England penalty.

A note to recognise JBarrett absolutely flying with a 5m runup into that ruck to wipe out MSmith when he looked for a jackal. Didn't look under control in the slightest and, while I don't think there was head contact, that was more luck than judgement.

Minute 32: England have the lineout just inside their half and make enough movement that it's uncontested ball for Itoje at the middle. We form a maul that's solid without going anywhere much, and Mitchell box-kicks. It's too long again, giving IFW no chance to compete, and he's actually a touch lucky not to get called for taking out McKenzie in the air.

NZ set a ruck and then pass deep backwards to have space before JBarrett kicks long. Odd tactic, as the change for Dupont's law means that everyone in front must retreat, which messes up the kick-chase, especially since he doesn't seem to be busting a gut to chase himself and put everyone onside. Smith thus gathers just outside his 22, with a full 30m between him and the nearest All Black. Wild decision-making considering how our counter has hurt them so far.

However, it works out okay for them, as Smith passes infield to Furbank, who has acres to run into and chooses the wrong acre. Arcing wide is risky to go away from the forwards, but it's 2-on-2 with him and Freeman vs Ioane and Reece in lots of space and I'd be interested in him backing himself. Instead he tries to do some clever stepping and is shut down hard by the inside defence. He offloads to Smith, who has looped around and we go looking for that space down Freeman's wing but it's now been shut down. Slade belts it long down the 15m channel, which is safe, but I'd prefer to've taken contact and kept the ball, as that's just giving NZ the ball back in their 22. McKenzie has time to pick his spot and puts it in touch just into England's half, pretty much level with where Slade kicked from.

Minute 33: CCS gets some patching up and strapping. Bit concerning. Eventually he's ready and our lineout movement bamboozles enough to get clean, uncontested middle ball for Itoje again. Off the top and swung into the middle for the traditional Earl crash ball line to give us a good platform, which Mitchell uses to put up a high-ball. This one is much better and Freeman does get two hands on it, but unfortunately so does McKenzie and he just about wrestles it back to New Zealand's side.

New Zealand pass it back out and JBarrett is standing at 10 to kick a long ball away - Underhill puts in a shot to remind him it doesn't matter if he's not wearing 10 as long as he's standing there.

Hit On McKenzie/JBarrett Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Slade x1, Underhill x2, Furbank x1

Minute 34: It's a decent kick, bouncing down into the 22, but MSmith has time to gather and judge his own one. He makes good contact and gets excellent length, but doesn't *quite* make touch, with Perofeta *just* keeping it infield. He counters and looks to beat MSmith, but Marcus puts in an excellent tackle to lasso his legs and bring him down.

New Zealand play infield and Finau runs an excellent blocking line to take out Underhill as he goes for McKenzie. That causes Martin to step in on him and McKenzie does a wonderful job to pick out the unmarked man in SBarrett on the burst. He walks through the gap, but Earl does a phenomenal job of reading it and having the pace to get across and tackle before he goes too far. It's offloaded to McKenzie and Slade does a good job of lunging up in the outside channel to threaten the intercept if he passes it, so he steps inside and accepts the tackle.

England have got their defence realigned and do a solid job on the next couple of phases, so JBarrett goes for a chip over the top. Mitchell is there sweeping, but doesn't judge it right and ends up kneeing it sideways instead of catching clean. Thankfully it balloons up and lands in Furbank's arms.

Minute 35: The Big Georgie F goes on a little run, beating SBarrett and making enough ground for his forwards to get in behind him. It's a messy ruck and De Groot makes it simpler by swinging around the side, going off his feet, and taking Mitchell out off the ball, allowing Amashukeli to pick any offence he likes to give England a much-needed penalty.

Smith kicks the ball out for a lineout just outside the NZ 22.

[Puja]

Minute 36: Short lineout and we just go straight up with Itoje. Earned that with previous movements. Off the top and England try a training ground move - Smith runs laterally and Lawrence hits the crash ball off the switch to set a ruck, before the next phase sees us go back to the blindside we just created, with Earl at 10, Martin outside him, Mitchell looping around to sell the ball going outside, while the inside play goes to Freeman on the burst. It's clearly a two-phase play, but it needs a bit more time on the training paddock - Smith and Lawrence's first phase was laboured and didn't really accomplish much in the way of disconcerting the Kiwi defence, and the second phase doesn't really sell anyone on the idea of the ball going wide. New Zealand spot Freeman early and move players to intercept, but it's moot as the pass was unsympathetic/Freeman's hands have been replaced by clogs, and the ball just bounces off his chest. Needs more time to cook, that one.

NZ play with the advantage and wang it wide in their own 22 - JBarrett is lucky not to be caught man-and-ball under his own posts, but he is playing with house money, so it's worth the risk. He does actually manage to brush Slade off and gets a free run to outside his 22. Slade comes back to low-tackle and Lawrence finishes him with a blatant shoulder-barge that I'm amazed wasn't called by the TMO. We've had a bit of the rub of the green with those decisions this game.

Feyi Waboso does a phenomenal job - first he drives through the ruck and disrupts Telea as he's about to pass the ball away, then he's up and tackling the next runner like the Duracell bunny. It's slowed down NZ enough that they accept taking a phase and then box-kicking.

Minute 37: It's too long/the chase is poor again from NZ and MSmith can catch and arc infield. I think he's hoping that Furbank was going to be running sideways with him and seeking the wide expanses, as he looks slightly surprised when he goes to make the pass and discovers his 15 is right next to him, but he recovers, draws his defender, and sends Furbank through the gap for a half-break. We recycle and Underhill carries hard off 9, making ground and presenting well (with a good clearout from George and Baxter), meaning Mitchell's got instant ball to work with.

We go wide and Lawrence shows good quick hands (better than I thought he possessed, frankly) to get the ball in and out to set Feyi-Waboso free for a run. Unfortunately he's not quite got the space to get away from Codie Taylor, who puts in a great lasso tackle, leaving us isolated and letting JBarrett steal the ball unopposed.

NZ spread it wide - we've got no kind of a defensive line and NZ are very far back, but Slade goes for the out-to-in superhero play, charging in and ruining what little cohesion we have in order to get absolutely fucking nowhere near McKenzie. Even worse, he doesn't even get his name back on the counter again, meaning that McKenzie can track the ball and take an inside pass to make a clean break. Slade's been poor so far this half, on both sides of the ball.

England do a good scramble job and Freeman takes an intercept - he's tackled, but it's our ball and I'd be interested to see whether we can make something out of a defence that's now an utter shambles from the change in possession, but unfortunately the ref had already started to blow for the inside pass to McKenzie being forward and we're going back for the scrum.

Minute 38: Television says 62% for NZ and I absolutely believe it - it's been good defence keeping us in this so far.

England keep a good stable scrum, and Earl breaks from the base, arcing infield. It looks for all the world that he's feeding Lawrence on the crash, but at the last minute he pulls it back to Mitchell. Unfortunately NZ have read the play after this well and MSmith is forced to step inside - it's still momentum, but it's a few metres rather than a clean break. England carry up, through Earl first, then back inside to Baxter who makes a lovely tip-on to get Martin running on for another couple of metres.

Minute 39: England still on the attack, just inside the 22. MSmith passes it behind the forward runners to Slade, but JBarrett has read it well and shoots up. Slade gets the ball away, but it's loose and goes to floor. For a second, McKenzie is about to leap on it and run the distance, but Furbank gets a desperate lunge in to get a toe to the ball, which lands in Freeman's hands. He runs down the wing, but has to step back inside as the cover comes across, getting a high tackle with head contact from Reece for his troubles - given the amount England have escaped this game, I'm willing to let them have that one. Freeman drives through contact and gets almost up to the 5m line with players in support... but the ref is bringing us back for a neck roll at a breakdown. Replays show it's a close call, but probably correct. New Zealand kick down for a lineout just about on halfway.

Minute 40: NZ manage their lineout okay, but then throw some ropey passing into midfield, where they are eaten up by the England defence. Slow ball and NZ go again with a forward carry that loses them another metre. Scott Barrett makes no attempt to stay on his feet and flumps over the tackle and on top of George Martin, only for the fifth Beatle to get his feet back under him, lever SBarrett up and then drive him backwards over the top of the ruck and into Perenara. It's perfectly legal and very good play, but unfortunately Barrett lands on Perenara's knee and the game stops while he receives treatment. The ref awards the scrum to NZ, which England are annoyed about, as they had the ball, but they only got it because of Perenara's injury, which makes it feel like the morally correct decision was reached.

The scrum has more comedy scrummaging from De Groot - he is making absolutely zero attempt to drive legally, popping his head at the first opportunity and boring in and up. Touch judge again needs a visit to Specsavers. New Zealand play away from the ruck though.

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Minute 41: They run their backs down the blind side and gain a good 12 metres in attack, but that's as good as it gets. Once England's defence is set, there's not a single NZ attack that breaches the gainline. In fact, by the end of the minute, NZ are back behind where the scrum was given.

They decide again to go deep and wide and do get the ball outside of IFW on the wing, but it takes so long to get there that the defensive system has realigned - IFW is running sideways the player in the 13 channel and Furbank is up from full-back to cover the winger. They make it back up to the gainline again with some offloading (and something that does look very much like a knock-on, but hey ho), and then try again.

Minute 42: New Zealand look devoid of ideas - they're just feeding players into our defence and going backwards bit by bit. A less arrogant team would've kicked to end the half ages ago, but McKenzie decides that this forward runner off 10 will be the game-breaker. CCS smashes SBarrett in contact, Lawrence is first there and does very well to resist being prized off the ball, and NZ are punished with a penalty kick in front of the posts, that they really had no reason to concede.

Minute 43: Pressure kick for Smith, but he nails it, straight down the middle, and we get to go in at 10-10. Feels like more than a bit of fortune to go to halftime level, but truth be told, our defence has been worthy of that.

[FKAS]

"Scott Barrett makes no attempt to stay on his feet and flumps over the tackle and on top of George Martin, only for the fifth Beatle to get his feet back under him, lever SBarrett up and then drive him backwards over the top of the ruck and into Perenara."

There did seem to be a couple of occasions the AB forwards went after Martin a bit. If think both times they regretted it. That one from Barrett and I think one from Finau in the second half. Presumably they wanted to test out the new big lump from England, I suppose having experienced the likes of Johnny Hill and Ewels previously they probably expected him to be an easy target.

[Puja]

Second half begins!

Minute 41: England kick off and it's a really good one - right on the touchline and on the edge of the 22. Sadly, NZ have arranged a barricade that French rioters would be proud of and Freeman can't get through to tackle JBarrett into touch, but he does scrag him as he goes through the shield wall himself. NZ run another phase to set up the caterpillar and box-kick routine, but Christie celebrates his first touch on the pitch with an execrable kick, sliced infield and landing pretty much on the centre spot and into the arms of Feyi-Waboso. He dances around Perofeta and makes ground in contact before laying it back. Quick ball and CCS is charging onto it to make more ground, but unfortunately he is looking for an offload out of contact and changes his mind, giving Tuipulotu time to get on the ball. Questions could be raised if PattyT ever released, but the ball goes loose and it's given as a knock-forward.

Minute 42: The scrum goes down on the far side, so I can't see what's happened, but I'm assuming it's De Groot's fault on general principles.

Minute 43: It's a stable scrum and the ref says to use the ball, but De Groot gets greedy and starts popping his bind and standing up, but this time it's right in front of the ref instead of the blind bat of a touch judge, so the penalty is given. Right in front of the posts, 35m out, and should surely be 10-13.

Minute 44: Ref gives Marcus his 20 second warning, but he gets it done within time... only to skew it to the left again. There must be something about the kicking under the roof at Dunedin that's different, cause it keeps happening to English kickers. Really bad miss though.

Minute 45: NZ kick the drop-out long and Smith catches and puts up the Garryowen. It's not quite good enough for Perofeta to get smashed the second he takes it, but CCS does give him a whack as he tries to run, so that's good enough. NZ attempt to reset through a forward phase, but Baxter puts in a dominant tackle and Maro is in over the ball and rips it back to our side. He then offloads to Baxter, who is back to his feet and goes on a rumble into the 22. He then offloads out the tackle to Stuart on the burst. Another good carry with Martin going to the line and tipping onto Underhill gets us more metres and we're only 10 out from the line. Quick ball again and spread wide, but Furbank doesn't like the look of it, so he steps back inside to where the forwards are and drives it up himself. Unfortunately Earl then decides to go for a pick and drive on his own, against a set guard defender. He gets stopped and dropped without making so much as a centimetre of ground and Savea is immediately over the ball. Stuart has had to run in from a distance, as the closest person possible to clear, and he can't do anything but come in at the side. That'll be marked down as a Stuart penalty conceded, but that was 100% Earl's fault because of a boneheaded decision. That might be a position where you can run over the guard against Italy or Wales, but it's not an option when Papalii's standing there set and ready. Hopefully he's learning a lot from this game.

[Puja]

Minute 46: New Zealand kick to touch about 30m out. The lineout is regulation, but Christie gets a nasty shock when Itoje emerges from the middle of the maul and nearly scrags him. It does get back to McKenzie though, who kicks long and straight down Feyi-Waboso's throat. They should learn to stop doing that, as he eats up the ground with a diagonal run and then picks out Slade on the switch.

Minute 47: Slade somehow resists the temptation to kick it aimlessly away and instead makes another 15m break. Quick ball and we run one forward phase infield, before Mitchell picks and goes to the blind side. NZ aren't set properly and Mitchell pumps the dummy to buy himself room before going on a half-break that buys us another 10m. Furbank is there to play 9 and a lovely tip-on from Earl to Martin takes us to the edge of the 22. It's instant ball again - Underhill is there just ahead of the recovering Mitchell to play it away, and I just want to take a moment to note how flexible and aware England have been. In this move alone, we've had IFW and Slade clearing out the ruck, Furbank in at 9, Earl playing first receiver and tipping it on, and then Furbank clearing that ruck with Underhill spotting Mitchell's not quite in position and being there to play it away himself. It's Ajax Total Football and I'm loving it.

Anyway, back to the rugby, where MSmith is running onto Underhill gorgeous scrum-half service and running at the line with ball in two hands. NZ are not aligned properly - they've got three players trying to keep an eye on the running of MSmith, CCS, Baxter and Stuart, and Smith does a delicious job. Taylor is worried about Smith running, so he pumps the ball and feigns to step inside - the outside man follows the dummy to mark Baxter, the inside man steps in to cover Smith and Marcus can then put Cunningham-South through the giant hole he just created. CCS is dragged down, but Baxter is first there to blast any thought of a jackal away from the ruck and Mitchell can play away. He makes the wrong choice to my mind - we've got an overlap and Smith to the right, but he goes left with an isolated Martin. Furbank does get to the ruck in time to clear out, although NZ will be questioning whether he came in from the side as well.

Still, it's our ball and Mitchell passes to Cunningham-South who carries far too high and is lucky to be able to get the offload away before he is dumped backwards. Underhill carries the shit ball up well before Smith takes the next phase and jinks past a couple of tacklers before being tackled. It's not going forward anymore which is an issue, but thankfully Freeman is here to solve that. More quick ball and Mitchell looks like he's sniping, to draw the defenders, before passing it out to Freeman on the run. He powers through McKenzie and is only just stopped short of the line. Itoje picks and goes, dreaming of his double, but New Zealand stop him just short.

Minute 48: Cunningham-South and then Underhill try to rumble over, but they're both repelled centimetres away. This is a good moment, as previous England would've kept trying, dazzled by the nearness of the line, before eventually a Vunipolae would've knocked on or got held up over the line. This current England, Mitchell demands the ball after the third failed attempt and passes it out to Smith.

He sends Earl up on the crash first off and he makes it back up to the gainline with some strong post-contact metres. Freeman clears out the ruck and Mitchell can sweep the ball straight away from the base. Furbank is offering himself as a tight, flat option at 10, but the ball goes behind him to Marcus Smith drifting sideways on the pass. He is almost certainly through himself if he dummies and runs, but he takes the 100% option rather than the 95% one by putting in a lovely pass to IFW on the wing. Probably would've been a better angle for the conversion had he gone himself, but 'm sure that won't prove important.

Minute 49: Replays show just how good a job MSmith did at 10 in that try. He may've had a shit kicking day, but we wouldn't've got as close as we did without him at fly-half.

Minute 50: Smith learns from his previous kicks that skewed left, but adjusts too far and this one skews out to the right of the posts. 10-15 to the best-dressed team.

New Zealand kick-off and it's a nice one, but Martin's lifting pod are in the right position and he takes with ease. We have a little rumble and then set up a caterpillar for Mitchell to kick from. This one is right back on form for him, making 20m ground and landing about 2m from the touchline - JBarrett catches and gets a face full of Freeman and Underhill, and does incredibly well to lob the ball back inside before he's introduced to the touchline. It lands in Kiwi hands more by luck than judgement and they play into midfield where they're met by the set English defensive line.

[FKAS]

Interesting that NZ seems to want to kick the leather off the ball in the second half. Struggled to cope with the English defence in the first and conceded too many pens.

[Puja]

Interesting that NZ seems to want to kick the leather off the ball in the second half. Struggled to cope with the English defence in the first and conceded too many pens.

And really *badly* too - this half so far has just been them giving the ball to England and inviting us to run back at them.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 51: NZ roll around the corner once, to no avail, before setting up a caterpillar. Christie belts it high and this one is better - Smith takes it without challenge, but he's at least tackled once he hits the floor. It's a nice pre-practiced play to win a turnover actually - instead of looking to smash the catcher backwards, JBarret grabs him when he lands and uses Smith's own ambition to drive forward to aikido-throw him towards NZ's side. This take Smith away from his own support and drops him right to the feet of Reece, who has come in specifically to make the turnover. Clearly right off the training paddock and it works like a charm - we should nick that tactic for future use.

We do nearly get the ball back, but Reece just about gets it back, and NZ swing it from one touchline to another in four passes. Telea looks like he might be away, but Feyi-Waboso performs his role perfectly to sprint sideways and cut him down with an excellent lasso tackle. Telea attempts to offload before he goes into touch, but Slade is there to block the pop off the floor and it goes into touch - I had thought it was illegal to do that, but I can't find it in the laws and the ref seemed unbothered, so maybe I'm imagining things.

Minute 52: Cole on for his 114th cap and CCS is off for TCurry. Stuart's had a good game and deserves more respect than he got - held our own scrums excellently and dealt well enough with De Groot fucking about on his own ball, as well as being a constant presence in the loose. I don't know if Cunningham-South is knackered or whether we're just expecting a barnstorming performance from TCurry off the bench, but that one does feel early. CCS has been raw and there's been mistakes through over-enthusiasm or overconfidence, but he has scared NZ at times.

NZ screw up the lift at the lineout and Tuipulotu only gets enough on the ball to knock it on. Cole gathers the loose ball and we reset and run a phase to let Mitchell kick away. It's a solid kick, finding touch just inside our half. NZ make subs as well, the most notable being BBarrett coming on.

The lineout drill works this time for NZ and they play off the top to send Telea running at MSmith. Earl comes across to chop his legs and no ground is made. NZ run through three phases of one-out forward runners and move a metre or two forward, but nothing dramatic.

Minute 53: The ball's spread wide and Ioane attempts to beat Smith, but is met with a technically excellent tackle that drops him. Underhill is over the ball and looks to have won it, but BBarrett comes in at the side to clear him out, evening out the grievances of refereeing decisions. NZ go for another forward rumble, but are met well and the last two phases have driven NZ back behind the starting point, so McKenzie drops deepish and looks for a chip over the top that Slade fields without much difficulty.

England run through a forward phase themselves and think about the box, but Mitchell wants to go one more and Martin carries with TCurry in support, only for TCurry to get pinged for going off his feet. I could complain about this one, considering how many others, of much worse severity, have been let go this game, but it's technically a fair cop and it's lazy play from someone just on the pitch. Need to do better, Tom.

Minute 54: We have finally gained a modicum of respect from New Zealand as they point for goal.

Minute 55: It's good kick from McKenzie - over 40m out and the first one today to look like it's struck sweetly. 13-15.

England kick off and it's high and short, but NZ get a lifting pod up, so there's not really a contest for it. Itoje comes round to NZ's side as first man, to try and lock in on the ball and win a held-up maul, but SBarrett gets straight to ground.

Speaking of Itoje, he's now the captain, as Dan is on for George. NZ set up the caterpillar and box, and this one is also much better, with Telea doing a good job to dominate the space and slap it back to his side. NZ wang it wide and deep, looking for the counter attack, and it looks like a horrible mistake, cause McKenzie gets the ball only a split second before he gets Curry and Dan. Disappointingly for England, Curry fails to make the tackle and Dan doesn't react to that and lets McKenzie go past him too. Thankfully Cole is there to actually do the job, but that's really poor from TCurry - could've been McKenzie castled 10m behind the rest of his team and a near certain pen for holding on, but instead he gets enough time and forward movement that NZ get the ball back. Not a good first 5 minutes from the experienced head.

[Puja]

This is worth a watch - actually changed one of my bits of m-b-m because he spotted something I didn't:



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