It seemed like a missed opportunity. Having struggled in the first half to keep in touch with New Zealand, who scored tries from Mark Telea and Will Jordan, with four penalties from Marcus Smith, England took the lead in the second half with an impressive performance.

When a Beauden Barrett try was ruled out by a deliberate Caleb Clarke hit and Smith converted the penalty for what was effectively a 10-point swing, England looked set for a commanding victory.

And still. Borthwick will no doubt look back with regret on his decision to remove Smith. Ford was missing playing time after recovering from a quadriceps injury, and England sat out, allowing New Zealand to get back into the game. A Damian McKenzie penalty after a Ben Earl armless tackle put them within a converted try of the lead and when Telea avoided a Ford tackle to score in the corner, McKenzie pulled off a brilliant touchline conversion to take the lead. lead.

There was still more drama to come 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 failed to convert and England left empty-handed one again for the third time. against the All Blacks.

“England was distraught”

Duncan Bech, Irish examiner

England were left distraught by another missed chance to beat New Zealand after George Ford 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 sacked the second of his two tries, but the hosts had one last chance to claim victory when Anton Lienert-Brown made a dangerous tackle on Theo Dan.

Ford saw his 77th-minute penalty hit the right post and once England failed to make the most of the close-range scrum that followed, he also went wide with a drop-goal in a heartbreaking conclusion to the series opener. Autumn Nations.

England prop Joe Marler had lit the match’s fuse by dismissing the Haka as “ridiculous” and calling for it to be “discarded”, but the fireworks promised by All Blacks captain Scott Barrett in response never materialized until the final stages.

Instead, a disappointingly poor New Zealand side were dragged through the second quarter as England looked to avenge their 2-0 series loss to the same opponents in July.

Marler’s opinion of the Haka was clearly not shared by the 82,000 spectators who roared as England marched to the halfway line to face 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 to lose 24-22 to New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday in a spectacular 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 wing conversion from Damian McKenzie gave New Zealand the lead after 76 minutes.

Substitute Ford then had two chances to win for the hosts, but was unable to convert either of them.

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

After all the midweek discussion about the Haka, the pre-match atmosphere perked up as the crowd drowned out the “war cries” with a raucous rendition of “Swing low, sweet chariot” and an early penalty from Marcus Smith further raised the stakes. the mood

However, the All Blacks created two great tries almost out of nothing, through moments of individual skill.

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

England ‘wasted their chance’

Robert Kitson, The Guardian

The opening weekend of the Autumn Nations Series was always going to be interesting. Two teams that need an uplifting result, more than 80,000 spectators eager to renew their promises of a great match in a newly renamed stadium. As expected, he delivered a flawed classic and a stunning finish that saw Steve Borthwick’s team narrowly miss out on, again, a morale-boosting victory over the All Blacks.

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

Everything seemed to be going well for England until the 76th minute when, after some clever play by Damian McKenzie, Mark Tele’a escaped down the right past Ford’s tackle to score his second try of the game in the right corner. McKenzie scored a brilliant conversion from the wing and New Zealand went ahead 24-22.

In the final analysis, it mattered less that the visitors had made too many unforced errors and given England a crucial interception attempt in the 44th minute, finished by a delighted Manny Feyi-Waboso. At least it was a memorable occasion for everyone present. Moved by the pre-match sight of their team advancing towards the haka, the crowd enjoyed an engaged performance at home and the atmosphere was excellent.

Deja vu, all over again

Colin Newboult, PlanetRugby

It was a case of deja vu for the All Blacks and England as the tourists claimed another narrow victory, claiming a 24-22 victory at the Allianz Stadium.

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

It was an exciting, if error-riddled, match as the All Blacks took a 14-12 lead at half-time thanks to tries from Mark Tele’a and Will Jordan.

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

Smith then added another triple and it looked like the hosts would finally beat the All Blacks, but a late response, in which Damian McKenzie scored a penalty and Tele’a crossed the whitewash, resulted in New Zealand’s third successive victory over England . .

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

All Blacks ‘far from finished product’

Liam Napier, New Zealand Herald

In a typically dramatic and captivating duel at Twickenham, the All Blacks emerged from the fire with their most precious victory of the year.

Scoring three tries to one, the All Blacks should have had England on the shelf only for the result to be determined in the final play, a 24-22 victory for Scott Robertson’s men.

In this year’s major Tests, missed opportunities have been the theme of the All Blacks’ season.

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

After an inconsistent Rugby Championship campaign that generated a disappointing 50% return, and a Japanese trip en route north, the All Blacks arrived in London for the first of a grueling three-match stretch with everything to prove.

While they are still far from the finished product, after a game in which they committed 22 turnovers, a victory of this magnitude, in these circumstances, has the potential to be the making of this All Blacks team.