All Blacks tie with England 25-all. Video / Sky Sport
How the UK media reacted to the All Blacks’ 25-25 draw with England at Twickenham.
‘All Blacks threw it away’
By Robert Kitson, Guardian
Beneath a dark forbidding November sky came a finish to light up a previously All Black night. Three tries in the last eight minutes of a game that had seemed well out of England’s reach altered the whole complexion of the evening and threw up one of the more unlikely game-saving heroes. The replacement prop Will Stuart will never top this, his two tries rescuing a draw from the jaws of a heavy defeat.
The All Blacks will wonder how on earth they threw it away. They have not been sighted in south-west London for four years but for much of the game this felt just like old times. Direct carrying, heavy pressure on the England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, a clever mix of diagonal cross-kicks and smart running angles combined to give them the kind of advantage that would usually see them home. Fair play to England for keeping going and confounding the laws of rugby gravity.
The Twickenham crowd did not know whether to dance or cry. They were emotionally spent. There were 70 minutes of frustration, 10 minutes of elation and one final second of despair.
After one of the worst performances of Eddie Jones’s tenure, they pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Twickenham history. Three tries in a matter of minutes changed the mood from a funeral to a festival, with Will Stuart emerging as the unlikely hero.
New Zealand were not perfect, but the way they toyed with England’s minds through their defensive set-ups, used their kicking game to stretch England in defence, then going through the guts and tearing a rib out of England up the middle. The first half was an absolute shellacking by New Zealand.
Where would England go in the second half? I found myself recalling the great France comeback here in 1999 against New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup semi-final. Those kinds of comebacks don’t come around very often. But as it happens, England produced one out of nowhere.
OK… so why on earth has Marcus Smith just booted that out? Back yourselves lads. How many opportunities in your career do you get to beat the All Blacks in front of a packed Twickenham?
For the most part, New Zealand were everything you expect of them at their best.
They played smart, sparky rugby, quick in the head and hands. Their decision-making was clear and quick, in contrast to England’s muddle and hesitation.
But England’s spirit and belief survived and was fanned into flames late on as their opponents faded.
The hosts will know that more complete, consistent performances will be needed to contend over tournament campaigns against the world’s best.
Why did England leave it so long? In the space of nine breathless, mesmerising minutes that sent Twickenham into raptures, Eddie Jones’ side belied their reputation as limited finishers to force one of the most improbable draws in their history. When Will Stuart powered over for his second try at the death, the ground was engulfed by scenes of eye-popping, bee-throwing delirium. Against all odds, this team had rediscovered their fortitude, wiping out a 19-point deficit to the fearsome All Blacks with a final act of devastating precision.
It was a giddying momentum shift. Even if fans sounded almost deflated when Marcus Smith kicked the ball out at the end to take the draw – they had been pleading for England to drive on for the victory – they could not help but be startled by the plot twist. For 71 minutes, the All Blacks were superior in every department, from Jordie Barrett’s inspired kicking to Rieko Ioane’s lightning bursts, from Sam Whitelock’s leadership in the second row to Mark Telea’s extraordinarily accurate defensive work. And yet when Beauden Barrett received a late yellow card for pinning Smith to the ground, England finally found their fluency with a trio of superbly-taken tries.
Ridiculous last 10 mins from England Rugby against the All Blacks..game was done and dusted..NZ 14 points up ..man sin binned..England literally start playing with nothing to lose..25-25.
It was entirely fitting that the most unpredictable season of the modern age should end with the All Blacks drawing at Twickenham and providing mixed feelings about their prospects in 2023.
At Twickenham they were good, bad, indifferent. They beat England up at times, out-thought them, out-smarted them and somehow blew up in the final 10 minutes to hand them a free pass back into the game.
How England managed to finish up with a spoil of the shares will be something for the All Blacks to think about on repeat all the way back to New Zealand and for the rest of the summer.
For the All Blacks, though, this will be a deflating result they let slip.
Led by their transformed pack, the All Blacks should have altered the complexion of their turbulent season. Instead, they are left to ponder what if. The chance to provide definitive proof they are transformed slipped through their fingers when it mattered most.
