All Blacks' five biggest defeats

Richie McCaw of New Zealand reacts during the QBE International match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham Stadium. Photo / Getty Images.

The All Blacks suffered a crushing 21-38 defeat to England in this morning's international test match at Twickenham, but where does it rates in New Zealand's history of heavy losses?

nzherald.co.nz takes a look at the All Blacks' five biggest defeats.

ONE
Australia 28 All Blacks 7, 1999
The All Blacks had beaten the Wallabies by 19 points at Eden Park a month earlier but were never in the match played in front of 107,000 fans at Sydney's Olympic Stadium. Australia only scored one try, through Mark Conners, while Matt Burke kicked seven penalties and a conversion for a tally of 23 points.

Men in Black reads 'The Wallabies took control from the outset, outmuscling the All Blacks pack, committing themselves to the loose ball and closing up on the backs, never letting them gain momentum'. Sound familiar?

The last match of the Tri-Nations, won by the All Blacks, before the 1999 Rugby World Cup, many pundits thought it was the wake up call the All Blacks needed ahead of the tournament, only for them to lose to France in the semifinals, while Australia claimed their second Webb Ellis trophy.

TWO
South Africa 17 All Blacks 0, 1928
The opening test of the All Blacks 1928 tour of South Africa stood as the side's worst defeat for more than 70 years.

The first test in three years for the All Blacks meant all but two of the side were making their full test debuts while fullback George Nepia was left in New Zealand on racial grounds.

The Boks scored the only try of the match in front of 10,000 fans at Kingsmead while first-five Bennie Osler kicked two penalties and two drop goals (worth four points at the time).

The Springboks dominated at scrum-time by continuously changing their formation which was legal at the time. Despite the large defeat the All Blacks would win the second and fourth tests, while South Africa claimed the third, as the series ended tied.

THREE
England 38 All Blacks 21, 2012
England produced an astonishing performance to beat the All Blacks 38-21 at Twickenham this morning in their biggest victory over New Zealand in their test history.

Steve Hansen's hopes of a perfect end to the year were dashed when England scored three rapid fire second half tries to Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi between the 54th and 61st minute.

It was an astonishing melt-down from an All Blacks side that seemed to hit the wall after a week that saw most of the squad struck down with a bug.They will feel sick that they let their guard down at the final hurdle of 2012.

FOUR
Australia 26 All Blacks 10, 1980
A famous win for Australia not just for the size of victory but because they defended the Bledisloe Cup for the first time ever.

On the eve of the third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground the All Blacks' squad was struck down by food poisoning with at least five players still feeling the effects on game day (again sound familiar?) with Murray Mexted and Gary Knight going to hospital hours before kickoff - but still played. The Wallabies scored four times while the All Blacks' only try came in the closing stages of the test when Bernie Fraser crossed over on an overlap. The win completed a 2-1 series win for the Wallabies, their first over the All Blacks since 1934.

FIVE
Australia 20 All Blacks 5, 1964
The final match of a three test series which was already wrapped up after the All Blacks claimed victories in Dunedin and Christchurch. More 2012 similarities, it was also the All Blacks' last test of the year and the loss stopped them from going through the year unbeaten (which also included a draw).

Wellington played host as the All Blacks ran out with the likes of Meads,Tremain, Gray, Graham and Clarke in the starting lineup. But Australia outperformed them with winger Stewart Boyce scoring twice and Phil Hawthorne slotting a 40 metre drop goal along with four successful kicks at goal by Terry Casey. It was the last test for All Black greats Don Clarke and captain John Graham.