Physical barely describes it. Exciting comes close. Brutal maybe. Definitely exhilarating, and worthy of a match on the game’s biggest stage.
Quite simply, it was the game of the tournament so far and probably the best international match of the last decade as New Zealand scored a last second try in a back and forth match to defeat England 20-18 and advance to the World Cup final.
Trailing by four with ten minutes to play, the Kiwis looked aimless on attack and leaky on defence, but mounted a final offensive with the last set of the game.
A strong Issac Luke run spread the defence on the left edge and Shaun Johnson – the magician – stepped through the hapless would-be tacklers to win the game and send a nation into delirium.
The pain of the loss was etched across English prop Sam Burgess’ face. The Rabbitohs enforcer was named man-of-the-match in an English side that dominated for large portions and probably deserved to win.
“I’m thankful for the man of the match, but I’d much rather have had a win than this medal,” Burgess said.
Playing with speed and width from the get go, England absorbed some early New Zealand pressure to open the scoring when Burgess offloaded to Sean O’Loughlin close to the line.
Captain Kevin Sinfield added a penalty shortly afterwards as the Kiwis’ physical game-plan descended into an avalanche of penalties and unforced errors. On the back foot, it was the first time New Zealand had been tested in the tournament and the English were coming up trumps
“We felt a bit panicked I think,” said Shaun Johnson at halftime.
“We just need to get back to completing our sets.”
It took a piece of freakish skill to stop the rot for the defending champions. Regathering a fifth tackle kick, the Kiwis kept the ball alive ten meters out from the line before centre Dean Whare miraculously flicked a loose pass back in field as he headed into touch. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck collected the ball and narrowed the gap before Johnson levelled the score with a long range penalty just before the break.
England would have wanted a little more breathing space for all their first half dominance, while the New Zealanders needed to tighten up the mistakes.
Tuivasa-Sheck was on the end of a simple overlap immediately after the resumption for his second try before Johnson added another penalty for an eight point lead.
Momentum swung wildly throughout the second stanza as each side incurred the wrath of referee Ben Cummins. A lazy Sam Kasiano penalty proved the kick-start the English needed as Kallum Watkins scored for a 14-12 scoreline in favour of New Zealand.
The unforced errors and defensive lapses continued for the men in black as Sam Burgess rampaged over the try-line to grasp the lead back for England with 12-minutes to play.
Then the wheels really fell off for the Kiwis.
Issac Luke kicked out on the full from the restart, Sonny Bill Williams was wrongly adjudged to have knocked on from the ensuing set, England almost scored, Kevin Locke threw a pass into the stands and Tuivasa-Sheck went down injured.
But a moment of madness from three time World Cup player and English captain Kevin Sinfield offered a glimmer of hope. With less than two minutes on the clock, instead of putting the ball into touch from a last tackle kick, Sinfield angled the ball back infield for Kevin Locke to regather. The diminutive fullback launched himself onto the attack, Sonny Bill Williams drew a penalty, Shaun Johnson got the ball, stepped once, twice, and the rest is history.
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