Manu Tuilagi has joined a long list of England rugby off-field indiscretions, ruled out of the World Cup after pleading guilty to assault.

Sam Burgess admitted he was relieved to finally score his first try for Bath in their 39-26 English rugby victory over Wasps yesterday.

The Wallabies have completed their worst European tour in almost a decade after being overpowered by England 26-17 in their season-ending test at Twickenham.

This much is clear: we've reached peak lunacy when it comes to evaluating test match referees, and the character assassination of Nigel Owens this week is the proof.

The Twickenham crowd can take a bow. After a poor start, in which they allowed Aaron Cruden to score a dodgy try for the All Blacks, the England faithful took control and kept their team in the hunt.

The droning chorus of English misanthropes crying "hypocrisy" and claiming yet again NZ rugby has pillaged the Pacific Islands may finally be quelled.

The All Blacks and England have injected some x-factor for their fourth encounter this year.

Twickenham. Many of us have been there to breathe in the atmosphere and then watch as the English hosts try to repel the All Black invaders.

The All Blacks cannot set foot on English soil these days without two boring commentaries being directed their way.

The All Blacks and England have clashed 37 times. In the 109-year history of the two rivals, England have won just seven times.

Looks like that poor little English rugby team is already running up the white flag or at least a distress signal. In other words, one con job over, and on to the next one.

It says a lot about the confidence of England coach Stuart Lancaster that his first message to fans this week has been "we are ready".

The All Blacks - NZ rugby, in fact - owes a fair bit to the power of adrenaline. Incredible stuff, it more than played its part in the recent clean sweep of England.

Usually it is hard to sympathise with the England rugby side. They have playing resources and finances well beyond the imagination of their All Black counterparts.

Sadly this was just a game too far for England. Mentally, emotionally and psychologically they were off the pace and you simply cannot afford that against New Zealand.

Stuart Lancaster described Julian Savea as a "phenomenal player" but will be more than happy to see the back of him after the ABs' left wing continued his try-scoring exploits against England.

There is, as England will testify, a gap between them and the All Blacks. They will be tempted to believe it's not that big and more tempted, again, to believe that in 15 months at the World Cup, it won't be there at all.

England are a serious World Cup threat, not in the round ball code but in the oval game tournament they host next year.

The test series with England has been a big success. For that we must acknowledge the contribution of the visitors as much as the All Blacks.

When England pieced together their side for tonight's final test, they changed up their backline.

All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw is keen to beat England and take the series 3-0 in Hamilton, knowing England backs coach Andy Farrell is backing his team to overcome the narrow losses and avoid the whitewash.

The great conundrum of English rugby remains unsolved. The national coach has dropped both of his Six Nations centres for this weekend's last hurrah against the All Blacks.