New Zealand 44
England 12
Still plenty to work on says Henry
View photos of who may replace Richie McCawKEY POINTS:
So it continues. England can rearrange the deckchairs on the HMS Rugby Titanic as much as they like but they sank again with the only traces of their existence being examined by forensic experts at an Auckland hotel.
Another year, another misshapen visit from the tourists with the
All Blacks wandering away with a 44-12 victory at Christchurch without moving out of third gear.
If last week at Eden Park was fraudulent footy, then this test continued the pattern which has England anchored at two wins in 12 matches since they first played test rugby in New Zealand.
England brought the beef and most of the bluster and in the washup, they just maintained their reputation as one of the game's great pretenders. Take them away from their own dungheap at Twickenham, from the safety of their own grounds, officials and crowds, and they morph into one of rugby's great pretenders.
Look at the result the other way. Had the All Blacks lost by 37-20 then 44-12 in the Old Dart what would the reaction have been?
The scorn would have been immense, the derision never-ending, the contempt for the tourists would have been overwhelming.
These sides were never in the same league despite the pile of promises and threats from England's management, their players, their press and their supporters. The only capacity for a prolonged battle apparently came at the aftermatch in Auckland.
But in Christchurch on Saturday night, away from the lineouts, scrums and arm wrestles which were part of the forwards' contest, the All Blacks once again humiliated the England backs. The statues at Easter Island would have showed more movement as Daniel Carter - and even the awkward Sione Lauaki - sauntered past for two of the touchdowns.
Other probable tries to Adam Thomson and Sitiveni Sivivatu were rubbed out while England also butchered a couple when Mathew Tait, a most competent player whenever picked against the All Blacks, made a sloppy attempted touchdown after doing all the hard work and Tom Varndell forgot to dive in at the corner.
England's caretaker coach Rob Andrew could not muster the courage to detail his side's ineffectiveness away from their strong forward pack. Instead it was two of the younger, impressive loose forwards, Tom Rees and James Haskell, who brought some perspective to the occasion.
"Obviously looking at the scoreboard, it was a bit of a shambles," Haskell. "Embarrassing really that we should lose like that."
He commended the clinical finishing of the All Blacks and the way they converted their turnovers into points.
Rees said there was no lack of effort from England although they were perhaps guilty of a lack of ambition in their methods. However he did acknowledge the All Blacks' potency.
"I do think we need to be a little bit more bloody-minded about ourselves, we need to get on with it," he said.
Both sides lifted their level from their opening skirmish at Eden Park but there was still far too much stilted play, and too many mistakes, stoppages and errors for this test, played before a reduced capacity crowd of 26,000, to rate as anything memorable.
If assistant coach Steve Hansen rated the All Blacks as playing to about 50 per cent of their potential at Auckland, he would probably rate them at about 70 per cent in this international.
Once again the second half tailed off as substitutions were made, Mike Tindall received a repeat yellow card, players were injured, TMO decisions were required and the test lost its shape.
All Black coach Graham Henry did not concur, believing the test improved the further it went, though he was very distracted after the loss of injured forwards Richie McCaw and Ali Williams in the first half.
The All Blacks had played better than last week, in patches, Henry suggested. He liked the set piece tries and improving defence, but was concerned about injuries and the lack of clout at the breakdowns. There were continuing lineout difficulties once Williams departed in the 12th minute with an ankle problem, but Rodney So'oialo and Anthony Boric had stepped up.
A standout and major point of difference for this moderate All Black side was the work of first five-eighths Carter, a player Henry thought was getting back towards some of the imperious play he showed against the Lions in 2005.
"He has gone up several notches since the Super 14, he is running the ship well," coach Henry said with a frown which said everything about the injury absence of McCaw.
"He is prepared to have a crack, he is a good defender and a real threat with the ball - he's in a purple match at the moment."
Centre Richard Kahui made a strong debut, scored a try with his first touch, ran straight and tackled with a venom his opposites felt and fullback Tait later succumbed to. He would be relieved at that showing after not playing since early May and has set up some tasty selection debates between himself and Conrad Smith.
Henry acknowledged the improvements needed for the Tri-Nations series and how the halftime score flattered the All Blacks but he thought his side's attitude was great.
"In the tackle area, we were out-physicalled, the defence lacked numbers - so there are aspects of the game we need to improve," he added.
