3.00pm
LONDON - Wellington back Paul Steinmetz has been called up to the All Black team as cover for first five-eigth Carlos Spencer and second five-eighth Keith Lowen, who were injured in New Zealand's 28-31 loss against England earlier today (NZ time).
There was more bad news after the dramatic test, with damage to the shoulder of Spencer and a leg muscle tear to Lowen. Steinmetz is due to arrive in Paris tomorrow although neither Spencer nor Lowen had yet been ruled out of contention for this Saturday's test against France.
A three-try scoring burst either side of halftime and desperate defence in the dying stages saw England hold off the desperate visitors and record their first win over New Zealand since 1993 and just their fifth ever.
Yet at one stage the result could have made history for another reason -- the greatest loss in All Blacks history.
A 22-point England scoring blitz saw a 9-14 deficit turn into a 31-14 lead for the home side eight minutes after halftime when winger Ben Cohen powered 50m to score.
With New Zealand players starting to commit basic errors and a crowd of 75,000 launching into "Swing Low Sweet Chariot", it took character for the new-look All Blacks to mount a rearguard action.
The fightback nearly resulted in a thrilling victory. Momentum swung New Zealand's way and tries to resurgent winger Jonah Lomu -- his second -- and replacement halfback Danny Lee set up a dramatic conclusion.
Sweeping movements nearly resulted in glory for fullback Ben Blair and winger Doug Howlett in opposite corners. They followed other narrow misses which called on the full defensive resources of the home side.
An All Blacks' 5m attacking lineout intercepted by English lock Ben Kay signalled the end of the fightback.
Mitchell said the result, rather than the manner of the All Blacks' performance was what counted to a demanding New Zealand rugby public.
"As followers of the All Blacks I think they'll be very disappointed at us not achieving victory. I wouldn't want it to be any other way," said Mitchell, refusing to use World Cup planning as an excuse.
"We set standards as All Blacks and we didn't deliver. Test rugby is about going for the full 80 and we never got there."
The All Blacks forwards were edged by the powerful English pack in the first half but tries to Lomu and fellow winger Howlett helped them to a 14-12 lead shortly before the break.
England's only points had come from three penalties and a dropped goal to influential first five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson before their other standout performer, flanker Lewis Moody, gave them the lead with a try well into first-half injury time.
Wilkinson, who scored 21 points, swung the match firmly England's way with a chip and chase resulting in a superb individual try next to the posts.
The result was not the return to the All Blacks captaincy Taine Randell was seeking.
"I'm disappointed. England deserved to win but we had our chances and we didn't take them. That's very disappointing," said Randell, who asked his players to keep their heads when they trailed by 17 points.
"The key for us was not to be startled. When we were under our posts it was just a matter of getting back on the level, calming things down and concentrating and getting our game plan back in action.
"The worst thing we could have done was gone off our heads and we got a lot of our structure back."
Mitchell said the inexperience of his team -- there were five new caps in the starting line-up and four in the reserves -- was not a factor.
"We don't like to spend too much time on beating our players up for mistakes. It's about moving forward and progressing. We've taken some valuable lessons from this experience today," he said.
"Some guys did play their first test and they'll learn a lot and become better rugby players as a result of it."
England coach Clive Woodward agreed with Mitchell that Wilkinson was a key figure with his kicking and general play, describing the first five-eighth as "up there with great players of the world today".
Woodward's team recorded their 16th consecutive win at Twickenham.
"I think the better team won," he said.
"I'm delighted we've kept this record going and I've delighted we beat the All Blacks.
"But if we were to be honest, I think we played about half and hour of very good rugby and about 50 minutes which was nowhere near good enough.
"I think we're a bit disappointed with our overall performance but we won the game."
The two tries to Lomu took him to 37 test tries and outright third place on the all-time All Blacks test list ahead of the 35 scored by wing John Kirwan.
Kirwan lost another record when Andrew Mehrtens came on to replace Spencer at halftime. Mehrtens' 64th test took him one ahead of Kirwan to be New Zealand's most capped test back.
The All Blacks face another massive challenge against the in-form France in a week while England will host the struggling Australia.
- NZPA
Steinmetz to join All Blacks as cover for Spencer, Lowen
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