England have booked a place in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final by beating the All Blacks 19-7 in an incredible game of the most intense rugby.
There were stunning performances from all over the place but the English pack and back row were something special.
The first half began with all the pace and intensity that you would imagine. England especially were full of running and power and the Kiwis found it hard to cope with them in the opening passages of play.
Just two minutes in Manu Tuilagi went over as he finished off a fast start for the English. They were running hard, offloading well and really challenged the All Blacks with their own style of game.
In the next 15 minutes England then continued to hammer the All Blacks and heaped more and more pressure on them.
But, crucially, the Kiwis didn’t crack. Their defence was solid and they soaked up pressure incredibly well. As the half played out both sides continued to batter each other with neither showing signs of cracking.
There was talk ahead of the game about how the Kiwis’ line out had four talented jumpers and the English just two but it was the All Blacks line out that struggled in the opening half, losing a couple of important throws.
They also gave away a scrum penalty and the English went in at half time definitely ahead in the forward stakes.
The scoreline could have been worse for the All Blacks – in the 25th minute it looked like Sam Underhill had gone over for a great score but the TMO took it away from him.
In the build-up Tom Curry had been a dummy runner and Sam Whitelock had fallen for the dummy tackling the flanker who didn’t have the ball.
That tackle opened up space for Underhill to fly through but the TMO and ref decided that Curry was actually in an offside position.
It showed that England were finding ways to unlock this awesome Kiwi defence and that was promising for the challengers.
Just before half time the English managed to slide over a penalty goal thanks to George Ford and the lead stretched out to 10.
(Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
But the Kiwis would have felt that if they could have a good start to the second half, then they were right back in it.
Both sides continued at the same breakneck pace in the second half and while the Kiwis had more possession and territory they still couldn’t find a rhythm or tactic to unlock England.
The All Blacks gradually found themselves further and further behind in the game – maybe not on the scoreboard as both sides struggled to get points, but definitely in terms of momentum and control.
England’s discipline was good and their set-piece almost perfect but it was their tackling and work at the breakdown that really broke Kiwi hearts.
The hits that were coming in were huge and more importantly there were very few missed tackles from the English.
The English thought they had a crucial try when Ben Youngs darted and dummied and was in after some great line out work but the TMO (who definitely will not get a Christmas card from many English fans) said that the ball was passed forward in the maul.
As the boos rang out around the stadium, the All Blacks came right back at them.
New Zealand, as you’d expect, fought back and scored thanks to Ardie Savea in the 57th minute. It was a poor England line out on their own line that Savea jumped on – and for a second, you wondered if this was where England cracked.
But six minutes later they built more pressure on the All Blacks, got the penalty and slotted another three points. Then seven minutes later another, and the English had the gap that they needed to see the game out.
There were some great performances by England in that game – the back row was incredible and the team in general was controlled and accurate.
England never let the Kiwis settle and the All Blacks will be so disappointed that they went out of the World Cup in this way. They were outplayed today by a good plan that was perfectly executed.
Can England go on and win the whole thing from here? If they play like that again then there aren’t many teams that could handle it.
However that’s a big if. There might be some injuries to worry about for Eddie Jones and he needs to make sure that his team know they haven’t won anything yet.
England 19
All Blacks 7
The Isn`t
Roar Rookie
That imoji summed up what i took out. :stoked:
Bob Hamilton
Guest
New Zealand also have form for inflexibility e.g. England asking for their NZ tour to be put back a week, British & Irish Lions ditto because of player involvement in club play-offs. Both turned down. Perhaps Saturday was your karma slap ????????????????????????????
Jacko
Guest
Spot on "Cant be mad"....I wasnt as sad I thought I would be.....Perhaps its the 2 in a row that has cured me of that....England won the game fair and square....ABs too many errors and most of it came from English pressure....Well done England and well done over the past 12 Years ABs.....And thanks to Hansen for the memories of some fantastic rugby since 2012....
Jacko
Guest
i am an extremely passionate supporter of my team.....I find it amusing that so many here seem to be passionate haters of a team they dont follow...Oh well.....The ABs have been fantastic over so long it had to end somewhere....England were very very good and got the better of a great ABs team on the day.....Well done England and Congrats to you and your supporters....I understand your emotions from the win and I wish you well in the Final......The sun managed to come up today....Who knew...
Devon
Guest
The first thing my 8 year old son asked me when he woke up this morning was whether our ABs had won. When I told him no it actually dawned on me that this was the first day of his short life where we weren't world champions. We then ran outside and kicked the ball around. Well played to England, way too good for us. Good luck to all those annoying Pommie fans next week.
Ruaridh
Guest
That’s what your mom said Carlos.
U
Roar Rookie
Amen
U
Roar Rookie
That’s fair
U
Roar Rookie
They choked in the process
BigBird
Guest
Well done Eddie. He has a well drilled team at WazzaBall. For those a little younger than me, WazzaBall was named after the coach of the Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league side in the 1980s. This rush up and in defence was so effective that the competition's six best teams couldn't manage to score 25 points between them in three games in the 1984-1986 NRL grand finals. The NRL realised that fans were going to stop watching because no one would ever see tries scored again other than as a rare phenomenon. So they changed the rules, backed up the defensive lines and rigourously policed it. Result. An open game with lots of tries which keep the punters entertained. Fast forward to RWC 2019. The world's two best teams can only manage two tries in 80 minutes of footy. And the message is, Whoever Can Play WazzaBall the Best Gets The Cup. Again, well done England. Your WazzaBall was perfect. So good not even the All Blacks could beat it. Fully expect IRB not to care one jot about my comments so long as England win. I get that. And the also rans can get stuffed. But here in Oz, WazzaBall ain't gunna cut it in our competitive footy market. Good luck trying the drag the kids in with WazzaBall if they want to be the best.
win4
Guest
What!! it was a conspiracy As soon as I heard Kearns say he backed us to win, I reached for my 3rd bottle of red and said to everyone were done for!!!. Congratulations England the best team won on the night.
Ozrugbynut
Roar Rookie
Yep nailed it. I don't think it was a new game plan necessarily but they executed it very well and for the full 80, that's the difference. But you have to be good enough to deliver that plan and believe you are good enough so hats off to England all round. I think Nz like most sides can be made to look average when put under pressure but to apply pressure 80 is a great effort, and it looked kinda effortless at times. Rush d did a great job on nz halves and inside backs I thought. Really snuffed out any space and therefore threats.
soapit
Roar Guru
like i said, there were plenty of line breaks for mine and luck and good scramble just stopped more actual tries, im happy with the amount of attack
Alligator
Roar Rookie
Try scoring opportunities yes, but not capitalised on. The poms even went for a field goal before trying to breach the all black line a second time. Their strategy was to put pressure on the opposition until cracks emerged, not to be creative in attack themselves. The defence was brilliant, and needed more than individual skills to beat it. Then they just kicked the penalties. Spiro and Robbie Deans will have to eat their words about attacking rugby winning at this world cup.
Uriah Heep
Roar Rookie
Actually NZ gets over these things (on the field) quicker than any other nation. I'd expect it'll take 12 months - 24 months at the extreme.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
OMG - you've reminded me of somebody's question during the cricket world cup: Which would be a bigger nightmare for Australians - New Zealand winning the cricket and the rugby cups or England doing it? Was that Brett McKay? Fionn? PeterK?
tsuru
Roar Rookie
And I guess defence was the order of the day there too, Mark. I don't think much attack was attempted at Rorke's drift. At least as shown in the movie. I guess Rorke's Drift would be a good pre-game inspirational talk.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Adsa, do you mean the ABs would have done better with more DHs?
SandBox
Roar Guru
Not sure if it was for the Japanese media, but in the after presser, he talked about the plan. He used a lot of references to Energy (Japanese ‘Ki’). What gives the opposition energy, and what doesn’t. Likewise for his own team. If only we had a coach who could do that
jonnyacidseed
Roar Rookie
Spot-on Ken. And when this becomes obvious to Aust rugby, then the game is back where it should be.