All Blacks v England: How the world media reacted to the Twickenham thriller

It felt like such a missed opportunity. After having to dig deep in the first half to stay in touch with New Zealand, who scored tries from Mark Telea and Will Jordan, with four penalties from Marcus Smith, England came clear in the second half with a stunning performance in the second half.

When Beauden Barrett had a try disallowed due to a deliberate knock-on from Caleb Clarke and Smith was awarded the penalty for what was effectively a 10-point swing, England looked on course for a statement victory.

And yet. Borthwick will undoubtedly look back on his decision to sign Smith with regret. Ford was short of game time having just recovered from being laid off with a quad injury, and England sat back, allowing New Zealand to get back into the game. A penalty from Damian McKenzie after a no-arms tackle from Ben Earl brought them within a converted try of the lead and when Telea brushed off a tackle from Ford to score in the corner, McKenzie landed a brilliant touchline conversion to take the lead to take.

More drama ensued when England were awarded a penalty after Lienert-Brown was penalized twice and shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Theo Dan, but Ford could not convert and England again left empty-handed for the third time. against the All Blacks.

‘England left desperate’

Duncan Bech, Irish examiner

England were left distraught by another missed opportunity to topple New Zealand after George Ford narrowly failed to convert a late penalty and drop goal attempt in a 24-22 defeat at the Allianz Stadium.

The All Blacks had regained the lead when Mark Tele’a plundered the second of his two tries, but the hosts had a late chance to snatch victory when Anton Lienert-Brown made a dangerous tackle on Theo Dan.

Ford saw his penalty hit the right side in the 77th minute and, when England had failed to make the most of the ensuing close-range scrum, he also went wide with a drop goal in a heartbreaking finale to the Autumn’s opener Nations Series.

England propagandist Joe Marler had lit the fuse before the match by dismissing the Haka as “ridiculous” and calling for it to be “thrown away”, but the fireworks promised by All Blacks captain Scott Barrett in response , only came about in the final phase.

Instead, disappointingly poor New Zealand were overtaken in the second quarter as England looked to avenge their 2-0 defeat to the same opponents in July.

Marler’s view of the Haka was clearly not shared by the 82,000 spectators as they cheered England’s advance to the halfway line to confront the Maori war dance before kick-off.

‘All blacks found a way’

Mitch Phillips, Reuters

England’s George Ford hit the post with a late penalty and then sent a drop goal wide as the hosts let another lead slip and lost 24-22 to New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday in a rollicking start to the Autumn Internationals.

England had built an eight-point lead heading into the final quarter, but a penalty, a second try from Mark Tele’a and a superb touchline conversion from Damian McKenzie put New Zealand ahead after 76 minutes.

Substitute Ford then had two chances to give the home team the win, but was unable to capitalize on either.

It was the third time in a row that England had led the All Blacks late in the match, but as with their two defeats in July, the All Blacks found a way to win the match.

After all the midweek discussions about the Haka, the pre-match atmosphere was heightened as the crowd drowned out the ‘war cries’ with a booming rendition of ‘Swing low, sweet chariot’ and an early penalty from Marcus Smith lifted the mood even further.

However, the All Blacks produced two great tries almost out of nowhere, through moments of individual skill.

England now play Australia in Twickenham on Saturday, while New Zealand have a mouth-watering clash with Ireland in Dublin on Friday.

England ‘blew their chance’

Robert Kitson, The Guardian

The first weekend of the Autumn Nations Series was always going to be interesting. Two teams in need of an uplifting result, more than 80,000 spectators eager to renew their big match vows in a new title stadium. It produced a flawed classic and a breathtaking finish that saw Steve Borthwick’s side (again) narrowly miss out on a morale-boosting win over the All Blacks.

Winning back the Hillary Shield would have been all the sweeter for England after their 2-0 defeat in the summer series, but once again they squandered the chance to strike the killing blow. A late penalty from George Ford hit a post and with the final kick of the match, Ford also missed with a drop goal that would have secured a first home win over New Zealand in 12 years.

Everything looked good for England until the 76th minute when, after some deft build-up play from Damian McKenzie, Mark Tele’a escaped Ford’s tackle down the right and scored his second try of the match into the right corner. McKenzie made a brilliant touchline conversion and New Zealand led 24-22.

In the end it mattered less that the visitors had made far too many unforced errors and gifted England a crucial interception try in the 44th minute, finished off by a delighted Manny Feyi-Waboso. In any case, it was a memorable event for everyone present. Moved by the sight of their team advancing towards haka before the match, the crowd were treated to a committed home performance and the atmosphere was excellent.

Deja vu, again

Colin Newboult, Planet Rugby

It was deja vu for the All Blacks and England as the tourists pulled off another narrow victory, recording a 24-22 victory at the Allianz Stadium.

In July, New Zealand came back in the final quarter to record a 2-0 win over Steve Borthwick’s men, and they did the same on Saturday.

It was a tense but flawless match with the All Blacks taking the lead 14-12 at the break through Mark Tele’a and Will Jordan trying.

Marcus Smith kicked four penalties to keep the Red Rose in the match before the fly-half set up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s score in the second period.

Smith then added another three-pointer and it looked like the hosts would finally beat the All Blacks, but a late response, with Damian McKenzie scoring a penalty and Tele’a crossing the whitewash, resulted in New Zealand’s third successive win on England. .

It was George Ford, who had replaced the brilliant Smith, who missed the tackle for Tele’a’s try, while he was also wrong with two late kicks that would have won the match for Borthwick’s team.

All Blacks ‘far from finished product’

Liam Napier, New Zealand herald

In a typically dramatic, enthralling match at Twickenham, the All Blacks emerged from the fire with their most cherished win of the year.

With three tries to one, the All Blacks should have had England alone on the rack for the result to be decided by the final game, in a 24-22 win for Scott Robertson’s men.

Missed opportunities have been the theme of the All Blacks season in this year’s key tests.

Although they did it the hard way, this time the All Blacks overcame repeated doses of self-inflicted adversity to beat England on their home field and record three wins against Steve Borthwick’s men this year.

After a patchy Rugby Championship campaign that produced a disappointing 50% return, and a Japanese foray on the way north, the All Blacks arrived in London for the first of a grueling three-match period with everything left to prove.

Although they are still a long way from the finished product, a win of this magnitude, after a game in which they scored 22 goals, under these circumstances has the potential to make this All Blacks team.