Sweet chariot loses its wheels

The All Blacks celebrate winning the test against England as the final whistle blows. Ross Land / Getty Images

New Zealand 23 England 19

All the chest-thumping, all the bluster about England's renewed venom should be redirected to the scoreboard at Twickenham.

The electronic lights twinkling through the early evening gloom in south-west London confirmed an All Black victory, one which appeared to have evaded any great local acclamation.

Perhaps they were blinded by a notion that an England renaissance had started when they bullied the Kalgoorlie second XV props who stood in last week for the Wallaby front row.

Maybe it was a reflection of the relief that England had resembled a rugby team again, that they had shown some of the gumption which had been absent in large lumps since their 2003 World Cup triumph.

Perhaps it was the need to find some sporting comfort in Britain after a weekend when Southern Hemisphere rugby and league teams tipped over their hosts.

The defeat at Twickenham was the least grievous of the rugby injuries, the sweet chariot was poised for more triumphs. Maybe, maybe not.

Not so long ago, as England built a near-impregnable aura at Twickers, phrases used to emerge from the mouths of England's coaching staff and players which were reinforced with weighty media support.

Narrow escapes for England were turned aside with the stance that tests were all about getting a result. That was the bottom line. But not now.

Unlucky, gallant and honourable are the current rugby partners for England.

However, a check of the scoresheet confirmed England lost, a defeat which will permit, bar some miraculous reversal against Scotland this week, the All Blacks to repeat their Grand Slam of 1978.

For more than 20 minutes of the second half, the All Blacks played with 14 men as referee Alan Lewis and his touch judges found three All Blacks guilty of professional fouls and sent them to the sinbin. In near tag-team decisions, Tony Woodcock, his replacement Neemia Tialata and Chris Masoe were punished.

However, England were not composed or competent enough to put the All Blacks away.

They had ample time to deny the All Blacks' quest for the Grand Slam but came up short in expertise. England had an early try for captain Martin Corry after an impressive lineout drive but behind the pack they did not have the attacking clout to beat a bludgeoning defensive line.

For the third time in three meetings since England became the World Cup holders, the All Blacks triumphed.

It compounded a galling few days for England whose administrators confessed they had voted for Japan to host the 2011 World Cup.

The All Black victory was a struggle. They never found a rhythm, although they found parity, against the England pack while the backs were out of kilter for large chunks of the test because of a ragged flow of possession. That could have been caused by the defection of Richie McCaw who withdrew following a head knock in the win against Ireland. His replacement, Masoe, was industrious but got locked into the trench warfare.

The pack stood strong at setpiece, particularly Carl Hayman and Keven Mealamu against the over-hyped Andy Sheridan in the scrum, and Jerry Collins was a monstrous dynamo throughout.

Squeezed in between the indifferent work of Byron Kelleher and Aaron Mauger, first five-eighths Daniel Carter was not at his sharpest, either.

Several punts were lame aviators and he fluffed one close penalty to end his sequence of successes at 24 kicks since the second test against the Lions.

But among his stumbles, Carter still had too much class for England. He made breaks which led to both All Black tries even if the first had a touch of fortune with what looked to be a forward final transfer.

But Carter's quality shone against England's midfield stodge. They would have had more success barging down the Thames than through the All Black defensive screens.

The England pack asked a lot of questions in what was a brutal inquisition. But when the All Blacks parried their hosts, there was little alternative from the white shirts.

Before they left New Zealand, the All Black panel reasoned England would be the greatest hurdle and aimed their selections to peak at Twickenham. The selectors picked the right target, they got the result they craved. Yet there will be discussion about whether they had discovered the best XV or whether, by chopping and changing teams they gave yesterday's XV the best ammunition.

With the Grand Slam prize tantalisingly close, the intrigue this weekend will be whether the selectors pick an entirely new XV for the final international at Murrayfield.

Will they play safe or introduce a touch of sentimentalism by picking tour captain Tana Umaga? Where will teenager Isaia Toeava fit in and do others like Jimmy Cowan, Saimone Taumoepeau, Angus Macdonald and Andrew Hore who have been only subs on tour, get a start?