Chandler Cunningham-South celebrates his side winning a scrum penalty against the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
How England rated in Sunday’s 24-22 defeat to the All Blacks at Twickenham.
OPINION
1. Ellis Genge – 5
Skinned by Mark Tele’a for the opening try and isolated when Jordie Barrett and Will Jordan worked a basic scissor move to set up the second. Happiest with his down and shoving in England’s dominant scrum.
2. Jamie George – 7
English captain carried the ball plenty and generally to good effect. Does a fine line in wandering slowly around the back of the opposition ruck, generally getting in the way, and is pretty handy at wittering away time to slow things down for his big pals to get a breather. Was knackered by the time the starting front row was subbed off and their scrum dominance faded.
3. Will Stuart – 6
Won an early scrum penalty that set the tone for All Black set-piece struggles. English pack looked better while he was out there.
4. Maro Itoje – 7
Another impressive showing from a bloke who is often at his best against the All Blacks. Great in the air, running in space and at the breakdown. Nice offload set his halfback away on a promising break in 20th minute.
5. George Martin – 4
Gets ticks on defence, but a couple of handling errors at key moments count against him, and while the scrum was strong early, the All Blacks’ lineout problems were of their own creation.
6. Chandler Cunningham-South – 7
Nice hit on Tupou Vaa’i in the 33rd minute quitened the All Black’s night and gave the English momentum when they needed it. The former Hamiltonian defended well throughout.
7. Tom Curry – 6
A committed and controlled defender. Celebrated like a victorious quarterback on Super Bowl day after making one (admittedly) very good tackle. Confusingly replaced by his twin brother, Ben.
8. Ben Earl – 6
Direct-running No 8 carried the ball more than any other Englishman (16 times), but also topped their missed tackler count (four). Didn’t skittle ABs’ defenders quite so much as he has in the past, and the late penalty for a no-arms tackle boosted the visitors’ momentum.
9. Ben Spencer – 6
A good night on the tools from a classic scrapping English No 9, who had plenty to say to the ref. Worked his options well with Smith and the heads-down runners in the close channels.
10. Marcus Smith – 7
A clever, confident player. Signaled early intent with kick-pass in his own 22, then took that intent, buried it in a box and reverted to English form, wellying the pig’s bladder high and far. Kicked well off the tee, but hashed an important drop-goal chance. Great instincts and read to claim that intercept from Ratima.
11. Tommy Freeman – 4
Least impressive winger on show was wobbly under early high balls and elsewhere when Tele’a scored in his channel.
12. Ollie Lawrence – 5
The latest in the Mike Tindall-style production line of English midfield heavy hitters topped the hosts tackle count with 22. Much of England’s game plan is built around rush defence from midfield and blunt-headed attack in the same channel – both were on show tonight.
13. Henry Slade – 5
Dutiful defensive 80-minute shift mostly involved chucking his body at the feet of All Blacks runners. Returning to action after a run of injuries, the All Blacks might wish they’d been able to isolate him more often.
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – 7
Great all-round show from a quality winger. Mostly carted the ball into heavy traffic, where he ducked, darted and drove to fine effect. Topped the stats for defenders beaten (seven) and clean breaks (three). Deserved try after Smith’s intercept was his third in three starts this year against the All Blacks.
15. George Furbank – 5
As is often the way when the All Blacks are at Twickers, the England fullback is seldom sighted other than in tidying-up operations. Struggled in a couple of aerial battles, but had a nice hand in setting up Feyi-Waboso’s try.
Replacements
16. Theo Dan 4
17. Fin Baxter 4
18. Dan Cole 4
19. Nick Isiekwe 4
20. Ben Curry 5
21. Alex Dombrandt 4
22. Harry Randall 2
23. George Ford 2
Loosehead prop returns to the All Blacks starting lineup to face Italy this weekend.