Wynne Gray: England could make life uncomfortable

All Black Aaron Cruden is tackled by Dylan Hartley and George Kruis of England during the QBE International match at Twickenham. Photo / Getty Images

Special team plays, astonishing individual feats or a mix of the two bring out the sporting labels for great tries.

Usually an outside back brings the garnish but mark down one for the engine men yesterday when All Black prop Charlie Faumuina claimed a doozy at Twickenham.

For a first test try at such a crucial time as the game lurched into its last 10 minutes, his final punishing push for the line was sumptuous.

When tries occur near the end of a match they carry more impact, as Ryan Crotty's touchdown against Ireland last year and Malakai Fekitoa's try against the Wallabies this season showed.

There are the wondrous acts like the French contrived 20 years ago when they scored the "try from the end of the world" to inflict pain on the All Blacks at Eden Park.

That move whizzed through 80 metres and nine pairs of hands in the last 32 seconds of the match.

Speed-of-light stuff compared with the try at Twickenham yesterday from Faumuina which extended the visitors' margin in their latest rumble with England.

The passage of play rolled through three minutes and two seconds of mounting pressure and 23 phases of astonishing accuracy as heavy rain closed in while the All Blacks kept their cool as they surged to that game-defining try.

Could you see England managing the same potent interplay? They were compelling elsewhere as they unpicked the All Black lineout, battered around the fringes and delivered plenty of tackling pressure.

That's the core of their game although they are looking to unfurl greater ambition under Stuart Lancaster.

As it was, the All Blacks were pushed hard throughout and England showed they had the heart to make life very uncomfortable for any team at the next World Cup.

Johnny May opened up the throttle and the anxiety levels early when he gassed Conrad Smith and blitzed Israel Dagg's tackle although the final scrum penalty try decision from referee Nigel Owens looked as legitimate as Marks and Spencer clothing with Taipei labels.

The All Blacks wanted an up-tempo flow with their offload game while England went for the forward heat and crowding pressure points like halfback Aaron Smith and Conrad Smith.

Much of the match stuttered along. While England began brilliantly and gorged on possession, a three-point lead at the break was insufficient reward. They struggled after the break until Dane Coles was sin-binned but even with that numerical advantage they could not make any inroads.

Deja vu? 2003, England lost several men to the sin-bin in Wellington when they beat the All Blacks as curtain-raiser to their World Cup triumph.