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Highlights from New Zealand’s thrilling first Test victory over England in Dunedin.
Highlights from New Zealand’s thrilling first Test victory over England in Dunedin.
Damian McKenzie’s three second-half penalties thwarted England’s hopes of a first away win against New Zealand since 2003 as they lost 16-15 in the opening Test in Dunedin.
The All Blacks made their early dominance count with unconverted tries from Sevu Reece and Ardie Savea, with England responding through Maro Itoje who forced his way over from close range, followed by Marcus Smith’s conversion.
Fly-half Smith, who had missed an earlier penalty, brought England level at 10-10 at the break with his boot and although he missed another after the restart, his pass allowed Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to finish to give Steve Borthwick’s side the lead.
New Zealand: Tests – Sevu Reece, Ardie Savea; Penalties: – Damian McKenzie (2).
England: Tests – Maro Itoje, Emmanuel Feyi-Waboso; Conversion – Marcus Smith; Penalty: – Marcus Smith.
McKenzie kicked two penalties to restore New Zealand’s lead, and they survived a late mistake after the shot clock expired as the number 10 lined up a spot-kick to snatch a one-point victory.
History of the game
New Zealand, playing their first match under new coach Scott Robertson, showed their attacking intent by probing England’s wings in the opening minutes but the strength of the visitors’ free-kick earned them the first penalty of the game.
Smith, however, failed to push away a relatively easy 40-metre effort and the hosts’ early pressure finally paid off in the 16th minute. Taking advantage of the penalty advantage, New Zealand fly-half McKenzie sent a precise strike down the right wing which was collected by Reece, before the winger rushed in to finish.
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New Zealand took an early lead against England through Sevu Reece who caught Damian McKenzie’s spot-kick in the corner.
England’s cause was not helped by the loss of Joe Marler, replaced by debutant prop Fin Baxter, but they took the lead five minutes later through Itoje’s point-blank interception for a converted try shortly after Sidcup-born but New Zealand-raised Chandler Cunningham-South had been disallowed.
But the All Blacks were quick to regain the lead and, with the English defence down to six against seven following a miscommunication between Ben Earl and George Furbank, full-back Stephen Perofeta picked up the pass that sent No.8 Savea storming over for a second try.
But the score was level at the break after New Zealand got stuck trying to run with the ball from inside their own half on the final play, conceding a penalty which this time Smith converted to equalise for the tourists.
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Marcus Smith misses a simple shot to give England the lead against New Zealand
A knee injury suffered by TJ Perenara late in the first half also forced a change at scrum-half for the hosts, with Finlay Christie replacing him, but they were given some respite in the first five minutes of the second half when Smith missed another penalty attempt.
The Harlequins number 10 played a key role in England taking the lead in the 47th minute, pulling the strings of play for Feyi-Waboso’s goal. Tommy Freeman was initially tackled just wide, then England moved the ball from right to left for Smith to find the Exeter Chiefs winger with a lightning pass down the wing.
Once again Smith was disappointed with his kicking as he failed to convert, and the lead was reduced to two points in the 54th minute when his opposite number McKenzie slotted home a penalty for his first successful kick towards goal in three attempts.
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Smith sent Immanuel Feyi-Waboso free to head into the corner and give England the lead
He scored a second goal 11 minutes later as England were penalised for a ruck infringement while defending their own 22 metres, but then gifted the visiting team a chance with less than two minutes remaining when he took too long to shoot a penalty that would have almost sealed victory.
Despite all caution, England failed to create a scoring opportunity and when the referee whistled a ruck infringement against them with the clock ticking down, it allowed the All Blacks to breathe a sigh of relief.
“England is so close to making history”
Will Greenwood, Sky Sports rugby pundit and former England international:
“You could see it was New Zealand’s first time playing. They’ve lost key players through retirement and going to Japan. Their lineouts are shaky, they’ve had to resort to kicking because they can’t get their attacking play going.
“On the other hand, I thought England were exceptional at times. Their defence kept them in the game for long periods and then they got after New Zealand in the second half.
“The frustrating thing about sports is you can’t go back and replay the last 15 minutes. The beauty is they’ll get another chance next week.”
“They were so close to writing a historical event one day.”
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Ahead of the first summer test against New Zealand, England faced the iconic Haka!
Former New Zealand international Nick Evans, speaking on Sky Sports:
“Credit to the England defence, Felix (Jones, England defence coach) did a brilliant job. Their line speed and their work after the tackle particularly caused New Zealand a lot of problems.
“The All Blacks stayed in the fight in the second half. The lineout capitulated but their scrum was excellent. They didn’t have the speed of the ball they wanted but they got a win which is going to be very important ahead of Eden Park next week.”
What they said
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Jamie George has praised England’s attacking mentality after they came so close to beating New Zealand in the first Test.
England captain Jamie George, speaking to Sky Sports:
“I’m incredibly proud of the way we approached the game. Not many teams come to New Zealand and do that. It shows the huge growth of this team.”
“There are definitely areas (to improve): the scrum was one, recovery was probably another. We’ll do a lot of honest work next week and make sure we go to Eden Park fully prepared.
“We wanted to make the people at home very proud. I think we achieved that through our efforts. A game with very small margins.”
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Steve Borthwick described England’s first Test against New Zealand as a midfield tug-of-war as the visitors suffered a narrow defeat.
New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson speaking to Sky Sports:
“We went into a tough battle, which we know Steve Borthwick’s teams are very good at. We didn’t manage our kicking game well, we pushed just after half-time and the second half was a real nightmare – and we got through it.
“I keep thinking about the things that went wrong when I should be thinking about the things that went right, like the score. It’s their sixth game of the year, it’s our first and we’re in a pretty tough learning curve.”
And after?
England now travel to Auckland for the second and final Test of the series against New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday 13 July. This match is live on Sky Sports Action from 7.30am BST (kick-off 8am).
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