Potent Pommies pulverise imperfect All Blacks
1 Dec 2012
MARK KEOHANE writes that England, at least until the teams next meet, are in the penthouse and all of New Zealand’s rugby world champions will be made to feel like home for the next six months is closer to the shithouse.
England won a Test that was more a non contest 38-21 and they won it in a manner surely only their players could have believed was possible.
England also ensured international rugby remains a game of hope for those who play the All Blacks and not merely an opportunity for the game’s self proclaimed Messiah to deliver an exhibition of the supposed idealism of the game.
The rugby gods have a way of ensuring this is a game meant for mortals that appreciate the triumph and fallibility of mortals. New Zealand, in recent weeks, bemoaned the imperfection of their mortal performances and turned their attention to an indulgent and self-absored inner search for rugby immortality.
It was painful to listen to how no win was good enough as the game’s best players bemoaned their vulnerability in making mistakes, but it will never be as painful as the beating inflicted on them by an England team apparently lacking in ambition, belief and of inferior playing pedigree.
The All Blacks, strained at the continued imperfections of every Test victory, spoke of finishing the year with the perfect performance but got only to know the feeling of a non-performance.
No English team has ever been as uncharitable, brutal and belittling when hosting the All Blacks. How wonderfully entertaining of the English to finally show some mongrel and to do it with a poise more befitting of the pending immortals wearing black.
England played as if sent by the gods to remind the All Blacks that reward comes from beating the opposition and not the romantic notion of a perfect rugby performance.
Playing the perfect game will never be possible, but the All Blacks who took a beating at Twickenham will know there is something like the most painful game.
Celebrate England and smile. The result was perfect, which is very different to a performance assessed on a belief that it has to be perfect.
The sport needed this result as much as the All Blacks needed a reminder that beating the opposition is still the greater reward and reason to play the game than the self indulgent notion that victory comes not in who they beat but in their ability to play the perfect game.
Players, who have made New Zealand the best team in the world in the last 20 months, will never know what it feels like to be perfect in 80 minutes of Test rugby, but they certainly will speak with authority about how it feels to be pulverised and made to feel pedestrian, pathetic and pulverised.
England, expected to play with passion but no poise, precision or perfection, were ruthless, adventurous and never reckless in taking the game’s champs and for 80 minutes treating them like chumps.
The hosts, heroic and inspirational, led 15-0 at half-time in the most emphatic domination of the All Blacks in the history of the two teams. Don’t belittle what England achieved. Not since Jonny Wilkinson kicked the most famous drop goal in English rugby to win England the 2003 World Cup has a nation had as much reason to feel so bloody good on a Saturday night after a Test match.
This was never a contest. In the context of the 80 minutes New Zealand were fortunate not to concede 50 points.
It would do every England player a disservice to speak of New Zealand player fatigue as the reason for the defeat, and it would also do England a disservice to want to read anything beyond the 80 minutes into the performance.
This match needs to celebrated for a result that balances the world order, even if only temporarily, but more importantly for 80 of the finest minutes in England’s professional rugby history.
It reminded me of Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson as among sport’s greatest upsets. The more the England backs trampled over the limp New Zealand defence, the more surreal it seemed. It was a beating of the most emphatic nature and it showed what is possible in any one-off contest where adventure and belief match the physicality and commitment.
New Zealand in the professional era average just over one Test defeat a year. This was it. The unbeaten Test run of 20 ended with a knockout, but it was the All Blacks who were floored. Ultimately it may prove that the most humiliating of defeats proves the most inspiring of results in the push for a successful defence of the World Cup in 2015.
England’s win was their first against the All Blacks and Springboks in 20 Tests so there is no crisis in New Zealand rugby and there certainly should not be any talk just yet of England being world champions in 2015.
Celebrate what is possible when it all comes together for a team in 80 minutes. Call it magnificent and don’t be shy in using every bit of purple praise to commend a performance and a result that is a contradiction of the player pedigree of the sides and certainly of the results in the last two seasons.
England’s players will believe it is possible to win, even against the might of the All Blacks. And New Zealand’s finest will know it is possible to lose, even against a youthful England.
Twickenham on Saturday will be mentioned every time a team is dismissed as a challenger to the world’s best in New Zealand. It will also be the reminder to every All Black player and every New Zealand supporter that if the professional game’s two greatest players Richie McCaw and Dan Carter could so decisively be pummeled in 80 minutes, no match can be assumed safe on the basis of the black jersey and previous performances.
New Zealand produce the quality of England’s finest moment since 2003 three matches in four. Their domination of the game and standards of excellence often mean that their finest matches are not given the necessary accolades because of all the talk of playing the perfect game.
Perhaps New Zealand’s public will again appreciate what constitutes a fine All Blacks win because they again know what it feels like to be humiliated on at least one Saturday in the Test calendar year.
I expect there to be humility in the post match talk from both camps. England will talk of the need to back up this type of all-round win against the very best and deliver consistently in big tournaments. New Zealand can’t but acknowledge this was a day in which they g0t whipped in every aspect of the game.
New Zealand’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad peaked with the most decisive last 40 minutes against the Springboks at Soccer City. It was a match that defined the quality of the world champions. Twickenham will be the start of a building towards a younger side for New Zealand. That is not a bad thing because what Saturday showed is that if the legs are not there no amount of wisdom, experience of historical brilliance can guarantee a winning result.
England were passionate in everything they did, accurate, clinical and crushingly brutal in the collisions. The result and the flow of the game would have surprised no-one had the winners being wearing black.
Give England their due. On this particular Saturday, All Blacks wingers Cory Jane and Julian Savea were as good as they have been all year. For the rest England won at the scrum, the lineout, field position, ball possession and most importantly in every collision. They advanced metres. The men in black were manhandled and carried back with as much ferocity.
The black jersey is again the cape of mortals. Hooray for that.
The 2015 World Cup again has an appeal. Nothing can ever be taken as a given when World Cup glory is determined in 80 minutes.
England have players capable of playing rugby as it was meant to be played. New Zealand, the bench mark of excellence, have players capable of taking a beating. The challenger played with the authority of the champion and the champion with the confusion and bewilderment of a mere pretender taking a pounding.
Take away the identities of the players and the two teams and reflect on the rugby. It was deserving of a standing ovation.
England believed and the All Blacks were never given a chance to not believe. The blows, all legal, were landed in the first collisions and sustained for the duration of the contest. New Zealand were never in this game and the momentum was always with those blokes in white.
England flanker Tom Wood was named Man of the Match but centre Manu Tualigi will remember this day as the one in which greats were made to look like greying pensioners. England’s triumph was New Zealand’s humiliation.
Carter played with the hesitation of a general who wasn’t fit enough to be in battle. Not even the finest are exempt if the mind knows the body is bleeding. Not even the greatest of them all McCaw could match the intensity of England, individually or collectively.
The All Blacks, beaten up for 50 minutes, countered with a flurry that historically would have be followed by a fundamental lesson that this is a team that can be dazed but never regarded defeated. Jane’s footwork and fighting qualities inspired 14 points.
England, 15 points clear and on the rampage, suddenly led by a point and the assumption was the last 20 minutes would be theirs by default more than design. Every other opponent has imploded at the ease with which an hour of control is undone within three minutes.
England’s players, unlike every other opponent in the last 18 months, simply played with greater adventure in response to New Zealand’s terrific two-try cameo and scored a brilliant try of their own. The confidence of England led to more chaos within New Zealand and the reality of circumstance for once proved more influential and defining than the mystique of the might of the black jersey.
England believed they could not lose. The All Blacks knew this was a day they could not win. They were courageous in trying to summon something but England’s reward for refusing to succumb to history and play the situation on merit was the most comprehensive English win in the history of battles between the two countries.
There was nothing fortunate about the win, but there was something particularly fabulous. England played the near perfect blend of rugby New Zealand talks about, in appreciation for width but with precision and not recklessness, in respect of 80 minutes and not 60 and with regard to an opponent who never lacked in desire but never threatened to terrorise.
This was a day when England looked like a team of wonderfully conditioned international rugby players and New Zealand looked bemused, battered and beaten by the refusal of a team to be beaten by a jersey worn by players who had not lost in 18 months, but who on the day were taken a beating.
The best team won at Twickenham on the basis of 80 minutes. Enjoy it England because while no one can say it will be a once in a 100 performance against the world’s best it certainly was a once in 20.
As for New Zealand it was a once in 21 defeat.
Perspective? Not just yet.
All of England deserve to boast about this one. It was that kind of demolition job.
And all of New Zealand should replace the patronising talk of the All Blacks being a team in search of playing the perfect game to a team that was painfully pulverised in their last game.
Perspective? Not for the weekend at least.
744 Comments
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2 Dec 2012, 06:39 am
@David-500:
That explains a lot
2 Dec 2012, 06:40 am
@David-500:
Any old reason for keo to have a sniff…
@CoachPete-499:
4. Kiwi girls play better rugby than Saffa girls.
5. Samoa is the best 7′s team in the world…
2 Dec 2012, 06:42 am
@Slartibartfast-502:
yes
2 Dec 2012, 06:43 am
@Slartibartfast-502:
And Pommie girls better than the Kiwis.
2 Dec 2012, 06:45 am
@David-504:
err in wich way?
2 Dec 2012, 06:48 am
Hey Luke MacAlister’s (sp) sister copied a few moves from her brother…won’t be bad being tackled by her!
2 Dec 2012, 07:04 am
Damn…
Have a thought for all the sheep in New Zealand after this battering…
2 Dec 2012, 07:08 am
After not watching the game yesterday and wanting to read what happened I have to say I am disappointed .
I’m glad England won and not disappointed in the AB loss, but I’m disappointed in the drivel I had to read through to get to the story about the rugby and it was written by non other than the great Keo.
I never comment (unless the Cheetahs score a famous win), but I felt the need to with the amount of garbage one is forced to endure when the famous sage Keo deems it is fit to give us a recount of the Iliad.
Well done England and I’m sure the AB will be breathing fire and brimstone come 2013 so in all rugby won yesterday.
2 Dec 2012, 07:14 am
Once in a while the ABs get reffed properly at the breakdown…
When that happens even England can beat them…
2 Dec 2012, 07:20 am
@Heavens Game-509: They were very gunshy yesterday
2 Dec 2012, 07:39 am
@Fern-510: Howzit Fernly… Was a good result for rugby…
England have just shown what many honest rugby supporters have known for a while – this AB emperor in a time of rugby mediocrity, has no clothes… They not fit to polish the shoes of ABs circa 95/96…
The chinks in the Black armor were exposed yesterday… Next year the French will do the same I reckon…
2 Dec 2012, 07:40 am
@CoachPete-499:
hahaha
ok those are facts
2 Dec 2012, 07:44 am
@whatever-496:
So where do you come up with that?
What is laughable is you live in our country, take my money cos you are unemployed and then bad mouth us….. i would never go to a country and and mouth them due to my own issues and hatred. Only arrogant idiot here is you.
Grow up
2 Dec 2012, 07:48 am
gees HG
you really are slipping arent you? is that the best you can come up with? sheep jokes?
lmfao..
continue, it sure is funny seeing the haters come out when the ABs lose a test, their first in 21 matches..
you wish your boys could emulate that, rather then winning 7 from 12..
and this with reducing the amount of tests up north, dont blame you guys, when Scotland and Ireland shamed your “once in a generation team” a few years ago us kiwis sure thought it was funny..
2 Dec 2012, 07:49 am
@Hurricane-513: Every country got their foreign idiots,mate.We got Heavens Game.
2 Dec 2012, 07:51 am
@poppa69-514:
Its funny.
ABs win…refs fault.
ABs lose….ref did his job.
2 Dec 2012, 07:52 am
@wnbb-515:
lol
Yeah sorry about that.
2 Dec 2012, 07:55 am
@wnbb-515:
Yesterdays game was an eye opener.
We were hammered like i have not seen in a long time.
English gave it too us big time. I felt violated after the match
2 Dec 2012, 08:01 am
@Hurricane-518:
Lol, I see only 3% of the Superbru players predicted an England win, so 97% were shocked as well, me included.
Amazing to think McCaw has only lost 14 times now out of 116 tests
2 Dec 2012, 08:03 am
Well done England. It has been a long time since I’ve seen the All Blacks totally outplayed like yesterday. You could see from the start of the game that England really wanted to win this one. A more comprehensive win you couldn’t get. Hard luck AB’s but 20 games unbeaten not a bad feat at all.
2 Dec 2012, 08:04 am
@Hurricane-517:
2 Dec 2012, 08:06 am
One can hardly believe the cricket is being played on the same strip as the first two innings. Proteas heading for one big lead…
2 Dec 2012, 08:15 am
@David-490:
Hmm,
98kg well distributed over 1.84m, low centre of gravity and a tigerish approch
Made many tackles and rucks when the ABs played it wide as a temporary ‘fetcher’ role to slow them down a bit
I always said that Muir doomed the Sharks at the Super Rugby level by dropping him for Jacobs, surely more than vindicated my opinion?
2 Dec 2012, 08:16 am
Suck it up hurricane, so I enjoyed the pomie win and said as much and it was so much more enjoyable because of your arrogance, do what’s with the person sh it? That’s poppadoos teritory!
Oh Wnbb, go play in the traffic ya w anker!
2 Dec 2012, 08:17 am
Keo you’re not planning on releasing a book about England any time soon are you?
2 Dec 2012, 09:37 am
Very very good win by England.
Foundation set by outstanding forward effort,
and the backs didn’t waste possession.
Imports Tuilagi and Barrit had outstanding games.
All the AB’s tries were wonderfully executed. (Three absolute gems).
There just wasn’t enough of them.
2nd biggest lose by the all Blacks ever,
2 Dec 2012, 10:35 am
Well done England, the united nations of the pacific rugby team lost to a better team today, perhaps this is the start of something for England to build on.
2 Dec 2012, 10:40 am
@maxipus1-527:
Poms most likely had more foreign born players than NZ.
2 Dec 2012, 10:53 am
@Hondo… ” I always said that Muir doomed the Sharks at the Super Rugby level by dropping him
for Jacobs, surely more than vindicated my
opinion?”
your “opinion” is s.hit as it is based on nothing but prejudice & misinformation…u f.cking bigot.
barritt was dropped for FRANCOIS STEYN at 12 after having been a solid combo with waylon murray!
vindicated se gat
2 Dec 2012, 10:56 am
That SA **** Suzie weaved her magic once again.
I had no idea she had immigrated.
Farrell did okay as well.
I particularly liked the very high camera angle from behind the posts when conversions or penalties were taken.
Ref was good. He took no shiit and everybody knew it.
Couple of bad calls …………………………but, that’s all part of the game.
2 Dec 2012, 11:00 am
@cane-528: You lot set the standard,the rest are just following
2 Dec 2012, 11:03 am
@cane-530: 95 still hurting you chump.Ref was great today,not under pobs regime where keeeweees can do what they want on field.Sign of things to come for you snivellers.
2 Dec 2012, 11:06 am
@snivelling little kiwi pricks-531: Tell us, Einstein, how many foreign born players are in current NZ squad.
2 Dec 2012, 11:12 am
@whatever-524:
lol
you calling me arrogant and then ask why am i being personal?
2 Dec 2012, 11:15 am
@Nils-533: You lot have been raping the islands for so long now,of course everybody is born in nz.Although they would all still go and play for there real home country if the money was there.And yes the third word of your post is about right.
2 Dec 2012, 11:16 am
@Hurricane-534: Who cares what you think loser.
2 Dec 2012, 11:32 am
@snivelling little kiwi pricks-535: hahaha what an ignorant statement
someones obviously hurting cause his team just cant beat ours
how do you put the gates around your crumbling ivory tower?
2 Dec 2012, 11:34 am
@poppa69-537: Ignorant in the mind of an arrogant race.
2 Dec 2012, 11:36 am
@poppa69-537: nz rugby is kak.
losing to the youngest england team in ages.
very poor.
2 Dec 2012, 11:44 am
@snivelling little kiwi pricks-536:
I care Sniveler.
Because I am a caring person.
You don’t,
because you are a c_nt.
2 Dec 2012, 11:48 am
@snivelling little kiwi pricks-535:
Yes NZ has a lot of Immigrants.
And where exactly did all your Van der Whatevers, de Plessis, MacCallum’s, Montgomeries and Beasts come from.
You piece of dog turrd.
2 Dec 2012, 11:56 am
How this england performance somehow vindicates HM’s bok dossier, which some feeble-minded fools on here will try to have you believe, is some bullshitt! All it really shows is that even lanchaster could do a far better job coaching the boks than this incumbent imbecile..
And with all respect to the AB’s, we have been our own worst enemies..saboteurs of self progression..architects of our own demise for whatever senseless reason.
2 Dec 2012, 11:59 am
Ho hum, da keeewees are hurting and whinging……beeeaauutiful to watch!
2 Dec 2012, 12:08 pm
@whatever-543:
Who’s hurting WTF,
We got smashed.
Shiite happens.
Polish your boots, turn up for practice, get some attitude and try again.
It’s called RUGBY.;
2 Dec 2012, 12:09 pm
Hore hum, looked like a game too far for the AB journeymen. A fired up England, tiredness and reported illness didn’t help. I thought England gave a good example of how to beat NZ; solid set pieces, keep and protect the ball and defend well. Attack full out when opportunity presents.
Are the Ab’s missing their greatest assets; School marm Graham Henry and sniveling pug Paddy O’ Brien?
2 Dec 2012, 12:13 pm
@The Rangerman-539: hahahaha
and yet, we’ve never lost to Scotland or Ireland, two teams who beat your “once in a generation” players just recently..
12 wins from 14 versus 7 wins from 12?
know which one Id rather have, and if that makes my team k@k what does it make yours?
mediocre? pathertic? South African? awful? meathead bashathon?
yep, all those adjectives perfectly describe your dinosaur rugby..
2 Dec 2012, 12:16 pm
@The Rangerman-539:
Well ranger, until you can beat NZ more than once 1-2 years then i suggest your keep ya gob shut.
We lost, we understand, no complaints here. England played the better game easily.
Mkaes you wonder the state of your rugby if you cant beat us then.
2 Dec 2012, 12:16 pm
Poppadoos, you are a loser, go do the rounds, check all doors and windows, then come back and whinge and moan and cry some more, it’s lovely to watch!
2 Dec 2012, 12:18 pm
@whatever-543:
I dont understand.
Who is moaning about the game?
All i see is kiwis saying we were beaten by the better team.
2 Dec 2012, 12:21 pm
@Hurricane-549:
“Who is moaning ”
What the **** …………………………….that’s who.
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