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New Zealand capped a nightmare week for English rugby but may have suffered some injury horrors of their own in a 44-12 thrashing of the tourists at AMI Stadium last night.
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The two-Test series was all-but wrapped up when the All Blacks led 20-0 at halftime but the crowd would have spent more time discussing an injury that forced captain Richie McCaw from the field.
World class flanker McCaw limped off in the 28th minute favouring his left ankle, but the diagnosis was unclear after he appeared to twist it awkwardly when falling in an incident behind play.
An ankle injury also forced lock Ali Williams off in the 15th minute, leaving the All Blacks pack thin on experience.
It didn’t matter against an English side who were again competitive up front but, as in last week’s 37-20 loss in Auckland, lacked attacking firepower and were carved open too easily.
The All Blacks scored five tries to two while five-eighth Daniel Carter contributed 22 points from a try and seven-from-seven shots at goal.
As with last week, a blowout was threatened but New Zealand failed to press home their advantage after leading 37-7 with 20 minutes to play.
England came into the match under a blanket of controversy, with four unnamed members of their squad under police investigation for an alleged sexual assault at their Auckland hotel last Sunday morning.
They never mounted the challenge last night and suffered a sixth straight loss to the All Blacks for the second time in history. No other nation has beaten the English in six consecutive Tests.
After he’d booted a first-minute penalty goal, Carter sliced through in the 12th minute and slipped a delightful inside ball to centre Richard Kahui who galloped under the crossbar on debut.
Carter extended the lead with a 23rd minute penalty and was in the thick of it soon afterwards when he gathered his own chip kick but was held up over the tryline.
From the resulting scrum he crossed from a slick move with halfback Andy Ellis for a 20-point margin inside half an hour.
England came close to scoring twice but fullback Mathew Tait spilled a loose ball over the tryline and winger Tom Varndell was pushed out in the corner by All Blacks fullback Leon MacDonald.
Replacement five-eighth Olly Barkley summed up England’s night when he somehow missed a penalty shot from directly in front one minute after halftime.
England crossed for their only try soon afterwards through halfback Danny Care, before Ma’a Nonu stretched the home side’s advantage when he stormed onto a pass from winger Sitiveni Sivivatu.
England centre Mike Tindall was given a yellow card for slowing possession and they paid the price almost immediately when reserve No.8 Sione Lauaki barged over from a scrum.
The visitors defied their numerical disadvantage by mounting pressure and sending Varndell over but reserve halfback Jimmy Cowan had the final say, rolling over for a try after the final hooter.
All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith paid tribute to the newcomers, including Kahui.
“We had some really good patches. The new players really stepped up,” he told Sky Sports.
English captain Steve Borthwick said his team would be taking back several lessons from the two Tests.
“We have to give credit to the All Blacks,” he said.
“Whenever they saw a try-scoring opportunity close to the line they took the opportunity.
“We had some opportunities in the first half but didn’t take them, that cost us. We were a long way away at halftime.
“But it all come down to the 80 minutes. In the last two games we have been found wanting against a very strong opposition.”
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