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Sun 8 Jun 2014 | 12:18
New Zealand snatch victory in the dying minutes after strong England showing

57
Comments

The All Blacks scored a late Conrad Smith try to deny England a famous Eden Park result in what was a scrappy yet thrilling Test match on Saturday. The hosts snuck it 20-15 with minutes to spare, but England will take heart from their performance.

As we've come to expect with New Zealand, even when they play badly they somehow manage to win. This was the case in Auckland after a rusty showing that will surely be their weakest of the season. Dropped balls and a weak scrum nearly led to an upset in the opening game of the series.

England, fielding a weakened side that didn't include those that took part in the Premiership final, took it to the hosts and with new flyhalf Freddie Burns kicking superbly, stayed in the match right up until the death. They'll rue missed opportunities, as the game was there for the taking.

"I have mixed emotions at the moment," Burns said post match. "First and foremost it's gutting because as a team we gave ourselves an opportunity to get something from the game. To be pipped like we were at the end is gutting.

"But personally I was happy with how I went. Hopefully I silenced a few critics. I've never doubted myself, especially in this environment. Hopefully I've proved I can manage a game and kick my goals in the toughest rugby arena in the world."

It'll be all change for the second Test next weekend, but Stuart Lancaster has some tough selection issues to contend with. As the cliche goes, it's a good problem to have.

"We don't want to get carried away as we didn't win the game, we lost," said Lancaster. "We have to make sure we rectify that next week.

With less territory and possesion, the All Blacks will be pleased to have snatched victory but no doubt realise that they'll need to be more accurate and clinical come next weekend.

"We got there in the end but we need to be a lot better going into the second Test because we expect England to be better," captain Richie McCaw said. "We got what we expected from England. It was pretty competitive around the breakdown and we expected the physicality they showed.

"We were a bit rusty in the first half. Test rugby is a step up in intensity and pace and it felt like we were half a yard off it," added McCaw.

Posted By: Grant Constable

57 Comments

  • danknapp
    4:23 PM 13/06/2014

    Unfortunately that selection is probably Julian Savea, but never mind.

  • danknapp
    4:23 PM 13/06/2014

    Unfortunately that selection is probably Julian Savea, but never mind.

  • danknapp
    4:22 PM 13/06/2014

    Hmmm... my inner nerd has got distracted by the talk of standards and averages. You make a good point IRB_ref.

    If we're going to be ultra picky, I'd question DrG's use of the semi-colon, if only because he and I haven't argued for a while and it's all too amicable.

    I would still say that Owens is a bloody good ref, if not even the best, but of course he is going to make mistakes. I can live with that. Anyone good enough to learn to referee has a lot of credit in the bank as far as I am concerned. The game wouldn't function without referees like yourself, IRB_ref, so thank you.

  • drg
    11:30 AM 11/06/2014

    See my comment above... I'm not 100% convinced.

  • mrjmmlc
    1:09 PM 10/06/2014

    to be fair, he is staying in worcester next season in the championship so he pretty much is geting himself out of contention for the world cup, so would not pick him

  • ahrefuronlyabollix
    12:19 PM 10/06/2014

    True, he looked a bit f**ked at the end of the game.

  • ahrefuronlyabollix
    12:13 PM 10/06/2014

    When you look at the replay, it seemed like Marlon Yarde was close to ripping possession from Brodie Retallick but it was after the tackle was made and both had gone to ground. I think if Owens had been close to the play he would have been shouting for Yarde to release and roll away, he didn't, so it was a definite penalty and probably technically a yellow card but based on Owens' previous decision to only penalise on the New Zealand blatant slowing down of play again by not releasing and rolling away, a penalty would have been more fair. Consistency is called for but I guess refs consistently don't award yellows against the ABs especially when they are at home. Also Nonu should have gone for 10 minutes for pulling back Haskell. If refs were less tolerant of this type of behaviour, we'd see a far more flowing game.

  • rugby08
    11:54 AM 10/06/2014

    Haskell's work rate is very good, but Wood has probably got one of the highest work rate's for a 6 in world rugby. Not that effective at any one thing though, but he sure get's around the park!

  • jimmy23
    10:46 AM 10/06/2014

    I agree but some players are capable of playing in multiple positions, hence why I asked if he has played on the wing?

  • hellraiser_rob
    10:37 AM 10/06/2014

    Without wishing to be unkind it looks like Owens has packed on some ballast this year, what with impending retirement I guess...

  • upthelowend
    10:09 AM 10/06/2014

    I've never understood this premise. If that player is a fullback, play him at fullback. Its international rugby, no one should be played out of position. I get that its less pressurised to put him on the wing but if he's seriously being looked at as a potential 15, he's gotta be able to show what he can do in that role specifically. Also, to my knowledge he's never been a regular on the wing.

  • drg
    11:44 PM 09/06/2014

    Unfortunately I missed the game and have yet to watch it (if I ever do), so forgive me if my comment appears incorrect.

    It seems to be; judging by past performances, that NZ can often have a shaky first test, which means this could have been this England teams best chance. They often seem to come back with a massive bang in their following games..

    I have noticed in the past when team A for instance plays NZ, NZ performs at 60% and Team A performs at 90% but they still lose a VERY close game. Team A then say, 'well we weren't playing at 100% we'll have to come back stronger and then we'll win" so next week Team A are on 100% and NZ are on 120% and Team A get hammered..

    Of course as I said, this may not be the case in the coming weeks but I find it's been a common trend in the past.

  • drg
    11:39 PM 09/06/2014

    Considering you failed to see the 'reply' button and you've started a sentence with a lower case, I'm not entirely sure how you can comment; with confidence, on what Dan has written...

  • danknapp
    9:58 PM 09/06/2014

    AAAAARGH!

    "I think Nigel is a very good ref but sometimes he falls below his own standard."

    Did nobody on this page learn anything about averages at school?! OF COURSE HE SOMETIMES FALLS BELOW HIS OWN STANDARD! He can be bloody brilliant at times, and make mistakes at other times. HE'S NOT A SODDING ROBOT! The point isn't that he doesn't make mistakes, but that he tends not to make them as much as I would do in the same position.

    Show me a single sport in the world which doesn't have contentious decisions in high profile games, and I'll finish you off with any part of me that you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, as many times as you want.

  • danknapp
    9:49 PM 09/06/2014

    Have a 'like' paimoe. Bravo sir. It's only a shame I can only like it once.

    That was a sensational pass. Probably the best moment of the game.

  • danknapp
    9:47 PM 09/06/2014

    Well, you can keep on wishing for 100% accurate referees. Me, I'm going to live in the real world and just enjoy watching Rugby.

    We are never going to have that level of accuracy. Sometimes you are going to win, sometimes you are going to lose. It all levels out in the end. Everyone thinks that their team does worse because of what mathematicians call 'survivor bias' - you only remember the events that confirm your opinion (they are the survivors) and ignore the ones which don't.

    I am English. I think England had a few calls go against them in that game. I also know that we've benefited from bad calls in the past. What goes around, comes around.

    We're talking about three humans on a Rugby pitch, one in a TV box, trying to referee a game as fairly as possible within the limits of human capacity. They will make mistakes. The responsibility of the fans, players and coaches alike is to accept that and move on. You want your team to control everything which they CAN control, and ignore that which they can't. England made a lot of handling errors and gave away a lot of silly penalties, and arguable cost ourselves the game.

    Nigel Owens didn't cost us the game, and saying he did so creates a dangerous precedent.

  • jimmy23
    8:56 PM 09/06/2014

    I have to say I barely watched Pennell play despite hearing so much about him. He certainly looks a handful, perhaps he could have a go on the wing? Has he played there at all?

  • larry
    4:58 PM 09/06/2014

    Referees are going to make mistakes. I am a ref, by the way (and one who does not like all the law changes that seem to go on year after year!). I just see that in this case a decision to penalize was made that didn't require a penalty, because play went on without any impeding of it. He was correct to let advantage go on, but my question is whether Yarde really did anything so egregious to get a penalty called on him, let alone get yellow carded. He didn't seem to lie on the ball to the extent that New Zealand couldn't ruck the ball back and have play continue. As a ref I tend to blow the whistle on those situations if play is obviously not going to continue, and I would admit I haven't always gotten it right, either. One can argue that penalizing, no matter what the result, gives the message not to infringe in the first place, and technically Yarde did commit a penalty, very briefly. How severely he committed that penalty is what I question, and it did not keep play from continuing. I try to consider the "No Harm, No Foul" in calling a game.

  • larry
    4:51 PM 09/06/2014

    That's not what happened. New Zealand won the ball very quickly. The referee played advantage and didn't blow up play until the next tackle after the ball was passed on to support players. If Yarde was lying on the ball, it was for a very brief moment. The referee had time to consider this: no harm, no foul, drop his arm indicating advantage, and let play develop.

  • vladimir
    4:22 PM 09/06/2014

    If you except the little details that can, of course, escape a human-made referee (tiny knock ons, shirts pulling now and then, dark arts of a ruck, ...), a referee should never be the man collapsing under the pressure. When you get to the point where Owens behaves with complete inconsistency, this is a serious mistake. And it regularly happens in international events, to the point that we can question the outcome of a match.
    I am sorry, THAT should never happen, never. But the same referees keep coming around and making huge blunders completely ruining the fairness of a contest. They are good, very good, 98% of the time, all right. But the lacking 2% are consistently shameful.

    Let me rephrase it : a referee should be 100% trustworthy, thorough and consistent.

  • facepalm
    3:56 PM 09/06/2014

    I'm a huge fan of Foden and one of his biggest advocates, but l would really love to see how Pennell takes to international rugby. The stuff he's managed to do with a truly terrible Worcester team around him merit an international opportunity.

    There's a great tribute to him here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2N137j8glY

  • paimoe
    3:44 PM 09/06/2014

    http://gfycat.com/CalmFarAffenpinscher

    This?

    (I made the gif myself :D)

  • 45678
    3:20 PM 09/06/2014

    disagree, I think there was 1 ruck turnover all game and this is with the so called master 7 playing for NZ. no need for a fetcher in a game where the ball is so well protected by those clearing out

  • 45678
    3:13 PM 09/06/2014

    there was a little footwork on yarde, but I think there was also a headbutt into the back from whitelock for good measure!

  • 45678
    3:08 PM 09/06/2014

    I felt a bit sorry for Marland Yarde, because he did actually rip the ball from Retallick, so you could argue that retallick should have been penalised for lying on the wrong side. it was the fact that NZ were going forward that went against him

    The biggest error from Owens was that he got a couple of knock-ons very wrong. this set the tone for him to be criticised.

    He also gave a couple of token penalties each way. One stuck in the mind was when England won a lineout, drove the ball forward. the maul then wheeled and he penalised England for entering at the side

    once he had made a couple of errors, I think he opened himself up for everything else to be judged. He's normally very good, but it wasn't his best day. that said I don't think a faultless ref performance would have greatly affected the score

  • mrjmmlc
    2:43 PM 09/06/2014

    my team for next week
    1-marler 2-hartely 3-wilson 4-launchbury 5-lawes 6-wood 7-robshaw 8-morgan
    9-care 10-farel 11-may 12-burel 13-tuilagi 14-yarde 15-brown
    16-webber 17-mulan 18-thomas 19-parling 20-vunipola 21-youngs 22-burns 23-foden

  • karimabuseer
    2:16 PM 09/06/2014

    Agree mate. Thought we defo missed Care. And not slagging Goode off as a player, he has done some great things for Sarries. But he's never quite been on top of his international game. A more useful utility back would be Ben Foden in my opinion - more of a physical presence, and faster too. Though of course, as an Englishman I do hope Goode proves us all wrong when he gets the opportunity to :)

  • fatprop
    2:13 PM 09/06/2014

    With Woods vs Hask woods is a great leader and lineout operator, which was missing from us yesterday. I would still pick Haskell though as he is much stronger on defence.

  • piglet
    11:16 AM 09/06/2014

    Yeah that could be true he seems very hesitant at times. Definitely England's weakest position regards depth. Dickson is terrible. May has said he is going to back himself a bit more and that was shown on Saturday but still made some bad decision. My biggest complaint is what they see in Goode. I think he is second rate he was put in to have decision makers while we didn't have one at 12 but that's sorted I don't see why he's selected he's not thatch of a utility back. He isn't quick enough to play on the wing and it's unlikely both flyhalfs are going to get injured in a game so having to step into to 10. Am I just being over critical or is this felt by most?

  • upthelowend
    10:41 AM 09/06/2014

    I would agree that Care is most definitely the form 9 at the moment, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that Youngs isn't international standard by any stretch, I just think at the moment its a mixture of lack of having a break in a while and maybe to some extent complacency about his game is causing him to under-perform. In the past he's shown a far better all round game than Care ever has.

  • danknapp
    10:34 AM 09/06/2014

    No, there was a sensational offload from the deck. Unbelieveable skill.

  • hellraiser_rob
    10:16 AM 09/06/2014

    I think he was doing it based on the direction of the players hands, but you can take pace of the dropping ball with your palm pointed forward, but still have the ball go backwards.

  • hellraiser_rob
    10:15 AM 09/06/2014

    When Youngs dropped the ball leading to the Retallick break, Yarde yellow, and NZ try I felt ill will towards him I must admit.

  • piglet
    9:59 AM 09/06/2014

    I didn't unfortunately, I think England's weakest area at the moment is scrumhalves. I know we have a few props injured but at scrumhalf bar care they are all fit. I'm a Leicester fan I don't think youngs is international standard he's slow on his delivery they look sharper with care there but behind him I don't think there is anyone?

  • hellraiser_rob
    9:55 AM 09/06/2014

    Well, did you seen the SA vs Rest of the world game? I know it's a scratch team thrown together, but Steff looked a little light weight in that game. I know they were getting dominated up front etc which makes the whole team look bad.

  • alasdairduncan3
    9:53 AM 09/06/2014

    I think he has his Knock On interpretation technically correct, but he seems to be over zealous in attempting to correct everyone else's interpretation. He needs to remember too that a ball passed/lost backwards OR FLAT is perfectly ok. I always love his refereeing as he allows play to flow, leading to some of recent years' best games, so why be so picky with the knock ons...?

  • alasdairduncan3
    9:45 AM 09/06/2014

    England deserved the win, which is something I don't say often. New Zealand do have a way of winning matches even when they're outplayed throughout, just remember that heartbreaker vs. Ireland (which I think was their last match)...

  • hellraiser_rob
    9:43 AM 09/06/2014

    No I didn't hear that, A penalty in the red zone like that is yellow all day regardless of how long they have been on the pitch. Ah well!

  • hellraiser_rob
    9:42 AM 09/06/2014

    Yeah he could of and probably should of let that be retaken, but the kicker didn't complain I note.

    Think it's more important Owens looks at his "knock on" interpretation first :)

  • hellraiser_rob
    9:27 AM 09/06/2014

    Haskell has had 1 good game, Wood has had a few years of being in the top few ENG players each game. Haskell also has had issues with discipline, in short Wood is the better cheater ;)

    Wood will be back in next week, but good to have Haskell off the bench

  • hellraiser_rob
    9:22 AM 09/06/2014

    You mean for the Try? Wasn't that Ben Smith?

  • hellraiser_rob
    9:18 AM 09/06/2014

    Hi All, I thought it was a good game, but very difficult to watch, time seemed to go in slow motion sometimes :)

    A few odd decisions from Owens but nobody is and ever will be 100%. Yarde's was a card, no question, nobody would have complained much if NZ were given 1 or 2.

    I think Brian Moore makes sense in his column that Lancaster will stick with loyalty, which will mean team changes, despite burns, eastmond, etc. playing well. Other players have more "in the bank":

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/brianmoore/10885397/Loyalty-means-Stuart-Lancaster-has-to-change-half-of-the-England-side-for-the-second-Test-against-New-Zealand.html

    I know all press are equally terrible, but the NZ press before the game said we would be thumped, and now after the game criticize us for taking pride in a close defeat :)

    Really looking forward to next weeks game, going to be immense!

  • facepalm
    11:07 PM 08/06/2014

    Jacques Burger :)

  • hedderball
    9:38 PM 08/06/2014

    Didn't see the game but looked like a nail-biter. I reckon the Yaarde one was a yellow to be honest - he never looked to make an effort to roll away and unfortunately when you get into that kind of position no ref's going to have much sympathy so don't really buy the argument that Owens didn't give him much time.

    Having said that, if Yaarde's was a yellow, I can't understand why the AB's didn't get a yellow when they failed to roll away from the tackle on Jonny May early in the second half. Same offence, different result. Not sure the result would have been any different - seem to recall the ABs did OK against us Irish at the Aviva with 14 even when we 20 points up - but that's why it's always harder to win away from home.

    Well done to England - good effort and good to see the N.hemisphere sides properly competing. Wouldn't mind a rematch between the N & S hemisphere champions again - who knows, we might break our 130 year duck!

  • danknapp
    9:30 PM 08/06/2014

    Haskell did have a good game. Good to see the competition for places!

  • danknapp
    9:28 PM 08/06/2014

    I don't agree. It is impossible for someone to be right all the time. That doesn't make someone a bad referee. Owens didn't have a good game, but he still did better than the vast majority of referees out there. He got a few things wrong (two 'knock ons' which weren't, plus the yellow or not to yellow, that is the question) which didn't go the way of my team, but I'd still happily see him refereeing for my team in the future.

  • danknapp
    9:24 PM 08/06/2014

    Both were either yellow cards or simply penalties - but not one a penalty and one a yellow. But I don't think it necessarily decided the outcome of the game. Well played ABs. They won despite looking rusty. We've got to sharpen up and develop as a team over the next 12 months, but I've got faith!

  • facepalm
    8:43 PM 08/06/2014

    I'm probably going get shot down on this one, but I can't see any reason for playing Wood ahead of The Hask. Better ball carrier, bigger hits in defence, more athletic and physical...just a more effective player. There were times when critics (myself included) questioned his commitment to international rugby as he was heading off to Super Rugby. But his performances in the Aviva and his work rate on saturday spoke volumes.

  • lockdown
    8:04 PM 08/06/2014

    Missed opportunity... Sure there were some dodgy decisions but those will even out over the series. We had the opportunity to win and should have won, can't see anything other than a 0-3 now (albeit closely fought)

  • vladimir
    7:31 PM 08/06/2014

    A good referee is not 90% right, he must be 100% right, all the time. If he falters at critical moments, if he cannot cope with pressure, he is simply a bad referee.

    I was truly shocked when Owens did not give this yellow card to the AB and to my mind, this is the turning point of the game. After that, this was not a fair game anymore and english players slowly lost the thread of a game they should have by a mile won.

  • kanpai
    6:29 PM 08/06/2014

    From a neutral point of view, Owens referring was a bit odd on some points - mainly the scrums - and had even been picked up by french commentators (and in France it's a big no-no to criticize the ref for commentators). I think Owens will need to work a little this summer, after all the poor performance in last games.

    But the game was really tense and enjoyable, which surprised me from the English after a long season and the absence of some players. We'll see next week if it is going to be the same.

  • foxtrot
    5:49 PM 08/06/2014

    Indeed, a deserved card but what was wrong about the whole carding was that NZ committed two professional fouls earlier in the game; one that was pretty much exactly the same (perhaps even worse as it was closer) but were only penalised.

  • irishrugby
    5:37 PM 08/06/2014

    Yarde was quite clearly holding onto the ball and lying on top of it, the All Blacks couldn't get quick ball as it was still underneath Yarde when Owen's blew. Intentionally killing the ball and a deserved yellow card

  • larry
    5:03 PM 08/06/2014

    Was there really a need for the ref to call a penalty then? I don't think so. New Zealand were clearly winning the ruck and getting quick ball, regardless of whether that England wing was lying on the ground at the back of the ruck. He was doing nothing to keep New Zealand from winning ball and continue play. He didn't even get an All Black boot near him. It's over officiating. Now rucks and mauls near try lines, there's probably going to be some things going on in there, regardless of whether the ref sees it or not, that aren't always within the laws of the game. But that's rugby.

  • larry
    4:57 PM 08/06/2014

    Wow! That's a mistake that shouldn't be made by test match players getting paid to play. That's one rarely seen anymore! But it happens, sudden lack of concentration. My comments about the two penalties were intended to convey that I thought the ref was over officiating, at least in those two incidents, the yellow card on the England wing, and the later penalty on New Zealand for being offside when no one was offside that was involved in the play.

  • jimmy23
    4:45 PM 08/06/2014

    Wasn't the most classic of games, neither team brought their A game but considering almost everyone predicted England were going to get smashed they did pretty well.

    I was worried about how Burns and Eastmond would do but they really stepped up to the occasion, however if they get picked for the next game they'll probably have to also step it up a gear cause the All Blacks will not be that rusty next time. Really looking forward to the next test with all our players available for the pick, should be a cracker!

    On a side note, I don't like to bring up the ref because what's done is done but does anyone feel that Yarde's yellow card was a bit harsh considering the All Blacks did a very similar thing on their own try line and only got penalised? I'm not disagreeing with the decision to card him but surely if he got carded for that the the All Blacks should have been as well? I'm not going to say 'England would have won otherwise' but just felt that was slightly unfair.

  • larry
    3:31 PM 08/06/2014

    A few comments. First, on the penalty where the England wing was yellow carded, the referee, in my opinion, had no reason to give a penalty for "killing the ball." The England player on the ground did nothing to prevent New Zealand from rucking back the ball, a very quick signal from the referee giving advantage after the tackle, with little time for the England player to "roll away." Now they had to play a man down for practically the rest of the game. The highlight that followed was the offside called on New Zealand giving England a chance to kick a penalty. Where was the offside? The New Zealand forward had every right to play the ball, as it was out of the ruck, as the England player had picked it up. Number 13 was offside, but he wasn't involved in the play at all, as he had not been involved in the tackle and was at least five yards away from play.

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