England - 19 New Zealand - 23: New Zealand took the high road to Scotland yesterday for the final leg of their all-conquering grand slam assault, leaving England to ponder what might have been. There are no prizes for second place, even against the All Blacks, and defeat by such a narrow margin was little consolation. England are slowly growing stronger, but they are still losing the tight games they once specialised in winning.
There is no disgrace in falling to a team with as much strength in depth as these All Blacks, now poised to complete the holy trinity of a Lions clean sweep, a Tri-Nations title and a European grand slam inside five months. Any pride at ruffling the composure of the world's best, though, was laced with a nagging sense of frustration. This was a hard-earned opportunity which, ultimately, went begging.
The relief evident on the pitch as the All Blacks hugged one another was not merely because they had salvaged their grand slam ambitions; having been reduced to 14 men for the entire last quarter, they knew they might have lost had England unsheathed a cutting edge to complement their close-range blood and thunder.
On Saturday night the home captain and try-scorer, Martin Corry, resembled a man who had just spent 80 minutes banging his head against a brick wall; creating holes by more subtle methods has to be his side's next priority.
Turning pressure into points, as head coach Andy Robinson acknowledges, is key to winning top-level international games, and, considering the encouraging amount of possession and territory England had, Corry's third-minute, close-range try and four Charlie Hodgson penalties were a disappointing return. The outstanding Pat Sanderson and Steve Borthwick exemplified the bulldog spirit flowing through the side, but there was little creative juice in midfield.
"You've got to take the positives out of it, but we are frustrated," said Robinson, who used the word "distraught" in the immediate aftermath. "We matched them throughout. It's now a matter of how we build on that and where we go next. We've got to look at the integration between forwards and backs and at our core skills, including handling, offloads and support play. With the pressure we had we'd have liked to score one or two tries."
It will be instructive to see what tack Robinson takes on Wednesday when he names his side to face Samoa on Saturday. Continuity has its uses, but if Lee Mears, James Forrester, Louis Deacon, Tom Rees, Mark van Gisbergen and James Simpson-Daniel are to become integral squad members, they have to be road-tested. By the time New Zealand return next autumn, Robinson, if nothing else, must have a bench with more proven oomph than he had this time.
New Zealand might have been further inconvenienced had Dan Carter's marginally forward, 16th-minute pass to Tana Umaga for New Zealand's first try been picked up. But despite occasional uncertainty among the Kiwi backs, there was no question which side showed the greater incisiveness.
To prevent the All Blacks causing problems on the flanks, England stretched their defensive pillars a little wider than normal, only to concede two tries through the middle, instigated by sharp Carter breaks. At least England did what the Lions, Wales and Ireland all largely failed to achieve and put the men in black under concerted pressure.
The bad news is that New Zealand proved as durable, even with 14 men, as they have looked dazzling hitherto.
Phil Vickery, part of an English front row who found New Zealand a significantly tougher nut to crack than Australia, described the contest as "a dogfight from minute one".
The visitors' start had been scratchy, though. Maybe the tourists had spent too long practising their new version of the haka, complete with a throat-slitting gesture as its climax; they were seven points down almost instantly when Byron Kelleher and Aaron Mauger failed to clear their line before Corry expertly finished an English lineout drive to get the Twickenham crowd roaring.
However, a side with Carter pulling the strings never stays quiet for long. The peerless outhalf's only blemish was a simple missed penalty early in the second half, but in a trice he had cut through another hole to establish the momentum for Keven Mealamu's burrowing, 45th-minute try.
England centre Mike Tindall summed up Carter's gift perfectly: "He's so relaxed and languid on the ball you think you've got him, but then you haven't."
However, poetry in motion did not apply to the All Blacks' increasingly desperate efforts to cling to their lead after Tony Woodcock had been sinbinned for pulling down a maul.
When the temporary replacement, Neemia Tialata, was also binned for ball-killing, it seemed England might have a chance of a lineout catch-and-drive against 13-man opponents. Instead, at 23-16 down, Hodgson took the three points and Woodcock immediately returned.
ENGLAND: Lewsey (Wasps); Cueto (Sale), Noon (Newcastle), Tindall (Gloucester), Cohen (Northampton); Hodgson (Sale), Dawson (Wasps); Sheridan (Sale), Thompson (Northampton), Vickery (Gloucester); Borthwick (Bath), Grewcock (Bath); Sanderson (Worcester), Moody (Leicester), Corry (Leicester, capt). Replacements: Stevens (Bath) for Sheridan (73 mins). Try: Corry. Con: Hodgson. Pens: Hodgson 4.
NEW ZEALAND: Muliaina (Auckland); Howlett (Auckland), Umaga (Wellington, capt), Mauger (Canterbury), Sivivatu (Waikato); Carter (Canterbury), Kelleher (Waikato; Woodcock (North Harbour), Mealamu (Auckland), Hayman (Otago); Jack (Canterbury), Williams (Auckland); Collins (Wellington), Masoe (Taranaki), So'oialo (Wellington). Replacements: Weepu (Wellington) for Kelleher (72 mins), Rokocoko (Auckland) for Sivivatu (73 mins), Tuiali'i (Canterbury) for So'oialo (76 mins), MacDonald (Canterbury) for Mauger (78 mins). Tries: Umaga, Mealamu. Cons: Carter 2. Pens: Carter 3. Sin-bin: Woodcock 57, Tialata 66, Masoe 78.
Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).
Guardian Service
