Their faces told the story. Last night at Eden Park, for the second week running, the All Blacks had fought back against England to claim a victory which contained late controversy. The new Razor era is nothing if not dramatic and the relief was obvious again.
“It has certainly been a challenging introduction for a new group,” skipper Scott Barrett said after the 24-17 win which allowed the All Blacks to protect their 30-year unbeaten record at their fortress.
“England came down here and threw everything at us in two tough Test matches. That has probably set us up well – understanding what Test match rugby is all about. I think we’re only going to get better from here.”
New head coach Scott Robertson will know they have to be.
Like they were in Dunedin, the All Blacks were in a hole after halftime in the second Test despite enjoying an early lead.
The All Blacks fought back against England to claim victory in front of a sold-out Eden Park last night. (Source: 1News)
Mark Tele’a’s converted score from the left sideline was quickly cancelled out Immanuel Feyi-Woboso’s, and, after a Damian McKenzie penalty extended the home side’s lead, the English struck back with another try from a cross-kick for Tommy Freeman to take the halftime advantage.
The All Blacks’ scrum was functioning well – “a real weapon for us”, Robertson said afterwards – but its attacking lineout was not. “A little bit disappointing,” skipper Barrett said of that set piece.
Robertson’s men could not find a way through the white wall and that 30-year record was in danger of becoming a burden too heavy to carry until Beauden Barrett’s introduction with half an hour remaining completely changed the energy and the scoreline.
A hard Tupou Vaa’i carry and quick ruck ball allowed Barrett to slice past a tiring Maro Itoje and present Tele’a with another try and there was far more besides from the fullback, who delivered a consistent cutting edge on attack and came up with a potentially game-saving tackle at the end on Jamie George as England drove towards the All Black line.
The time-out McKenzie kick and late All Blacks’ turnover penalty provided the drama in Dunedin. At Eden Park it was the sight of all four match officials in conversation with each other as they studied slow-motion footage of a potential try which would have put the English within a conversion of a draw. As it was, England were penalised for an obstruction at the maul.
Was Robertson confident at that point?
He replied: “When you slow rugby down a lot of things get shown up don’t they? It depends what you’re looking at. They got the clear and obvious at the end when they did break away. We saw it at the time… yeah there’s a little bit of jeopardy at the end of those games. It definitely drew out the entertainment factor and value of it all.”
Asked about his big brother’s intervention at the end, Scott Barrett said wryly: “Ideally we don’t want our fullback making defensive plays on our maul.”
There were enormous pluses for Robertson at the end of his first series: Beauden’s impact, Cortez Ratima’s performance at halfback on his Test debut after replacing Finlay Christie (HIA) – “remarkable”, said Robertson of his replacement halfback -his team’s resilience on defence – especially their front-on tackling – the scrum and the way they held out the visitors on their line at the end.
The minuses are almost as plentiful, though. There will be questions about the make-up of the loose forwards, Rieko Ioane’s distributing at centre, the lineout of course and, apart from kicking, the lack of a discernible strategy to break down a rush defence.
The answers may not come before they take on Fiji in San Diego next Saturday but there are likely to be several changes as Robertson tweaks his line up before the Rugby Championship which starts with two Tests against Argentina in Wellington on August 10 and Auckland a week later.
“They won the arm wrestle around the kick battle for most of that game,” Scott Barrett said of England. “They pinned us in our half. That’s the game they’re good at. It probably was a little bit more intense and we were aware of that – being their last game of the season, they’re going to throw everything into it and they certainly did that.”
Robertson, aware the All Blacks will have to tidy up their cross-kick defence, said: “They didn’t go through us. We [hit with] some great shoulders and showed a huge amount of care on our line... we dug in deep when we could have given up a couple of those and it could have been a different Test match.”
As for the Eden Park factor? “It’s always in the back of your mind,” said Scott Barrett. “You don’t want to be that team [that loses first].”
Robertson’s men will meet England again in November. “Twickenham is something to look forward to. We have a few Test matches before we get there but they are well drilled and well planned and a passionate English side. It’s been a hell of a series.”
England head coach Steve Borthwick, meanwhile, was glowing of his praise for his team’s resilience and effort and New Zealand’s passion for rugby.
“I was being told by people in the street about 10 times a day how much we were going to get blown away at Eden Park,” said Borthwick after his team’s second loss.
“I was told in the lift today that it was a privilege for us to play at Eden Park and we would be lucky if we got away with less than 50 points conceded. Some teams wouldn’t have come back from 24-17 down but this team kept fighting. I’m very proud to work with them. A lot of people were writing us off.”
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