Below-par All Blacks still far too good
Sunday June 22 2008
As a Christchurch bookend to this crazy tour, this was similar to the Auckland first Test, just a little bit tattier, a little bit more dog-eared, but still nothing compared with what filled the days and nights between the rugby.
Seven more points were conceded here than last week, eight fewer scored. The leaks, that is, were greater, while the scoring power was reduced, deterioration a stronger theme than development and improvement.
If there was an upside, it was that this could again have been a whole heap worse. England's scrum was solid, as was the line-out. Danny Care played his heart out, scoring England's first try. The young back row battled on and on, and a second try came when the cause was lost, to prove that this team never know when to give in.
And yet the gap between the teams was enormous. For every England player battling to the end there was a young All Black making his first appearance -- Richard Kahui and Rudi Wulf -- looking completely in control of their skills at this level.
Once again it was in the midfield that the gulf in quality was most evident. New Zealand had dared employ the rotation policy that had landed them in so much trouble at the World Cup. Kahui had been selected instead of Conrad Smith.
It made not a jot of difference. The centre scored the All Blacks' first try and simply looked to the manner born in every aspect of play.
England had brought in Jamie Noon to plug the midfield gaps of the first Test, but he was run over on more than one occasion. He slipped off Dan Carter, for example, as the outside-half started the run that would lead to Kahui's try.
For the second, Carter ran through an enormous hole in the defence, straight from a scrummage, as did New Zealand No 8 Sione Lauaki for the fourth. The All Blacks played throughout with invention and subtlety, but England opened up before them all too easily.
Their systems were not helped by the loss of Toby Flood with a shoulder injury, nor their tally by Olly Barkley missing a sitter of a penalty from nearly in front of the posts, but from start to finish the England three-quarters were outshone by their opposite numbers.
There were just two moments when the course of the game might have been altered. After 12 minutes, by which time England were trailing 12-0, Mathew Tait kicked high into the sky and set off in pursuit. Dan Carter mystifyingly let the ball bounce, and straight up into the arms of Luke Narraway it popped.
The No 8 gave it to Tom Varndell, supposedly the fastest winger in European rugby, but, just as strangely, he seemed to slow down as he began his run for the line, and Leon MacDonald managed to push him into touch.
On the half-hour mark -- England now trailed 20-0 -- Tait decided to keep the ball in hand. He beat Neemia Tialata and Adam Thomson before chipping ahead, went past Andy Ellis and now only had to control the ball over the line. Thomson, however, had never stopped covering and arrived in time to put the full-back off.
Tait, you may have noticed, was involved on both occasions, a lively, willing pursuer of all causes. He ended the game with blood smeared all over his face, victim of a clash of heads with Kahui, after a pass from Barkley had the medics revving up their mini-ambulance even before the ball landed on him, a fraction of a second before the new All Black centre. Tait was this week's image of doomed bravery.
Just as there were scraps of comfort for England, so it was not all good news for New Zealand. Richie McCaw departed with an ankle injury, as did Ali Williams. Rotating the midfield is one thing; replacing the captain and second row might prove a lot more taxing for the Tri-Nations.
The All Blacks still do not know where they stand. Ireland tested them in the Wellington rain, while England limited the damage in two dry games.
But New Zealand are not yet sure how far advanced is their recovery after the World Cup flop.
They were good enough up front, occasionally inspired behind, but lacked the all-round clinical efficiency that would have made the scoreboard move along more rapidly in the closing quarter. The failure to hammer home an advantage -- three times -- was a nasty echo of their experience against France.
But all the real problems are England's, no matter what Rob Andrew said afterwards about having a few questions answered with regard to how certain young players faced up to the challenges of this tour. The truth is that the All Blacks can calibrate a game, set the pace and intensity at a level that has left England floundering.
Andrew has set great store by England's new deal with the clubs. Martin Johnson's first day at work on July 1 coincides with the announcement of the new elite squad of 32 players, who will spend a lot more time together at regular intervals throughout the year.
That work will be complemented by rising standards in the Guinness Premiership. Last season's competition saw a quantum leap forward in design and daring, and the promise is for more of the same.
But England looked antiquated compared with the All Blacks. This turned into a throwback tour all the way down the line, from the beaten up bookends to the top-shelf stuff in the middle. Some of their claims to be at the cutting edge of professionalism have been exposed and any plans they are in the process of promoting as the way forward deserve to be viewed with nothing but grave suspicion.
Scorers -- New Zealand: Carter try, 4 cons, 3 pens; Kahui, Nonu, Lauaki, Cowan tries; Donald con. England: Care, Varndell tries; Barkley con
New Zealand: MacDonald; Sivivatu, Kahui (Muliaina 73), Nonu, Wulf; Carter (Donald 74), Ellis (Cowan 68); So'oialo, McCaw (Lauaki 27), Thomson, Williams (Boric 15), Thorn, Somerville, Hore, Tialata.
England: Tait; Ojo, Tindall, Noon, Varndell; Flood (Barkley 29), Care; Narraway, Rees, Haskell, Borthwick, Palmer (Kay 68), Stevens (Hobson 72), Mears, Payne.
Referee: J Kaplan (South Africa).
- Eddie Butler
