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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1 Dec 2012, 19:27 pm
Look, my take on it is this: The ABs are clearly the best team in the world, as they almost always are, but the overall standard at the moment is not particularly high. I believe the top 3 teams were all better last year than they are this year.
1 Dec 2012, 19:27 pm
@cab-348:
So are England the best in the world?
SA cant be, we beat you guys 2 out of 2 this year.
Are you trolling or are you really having problems with the simplicity of IRB rankings?
1 Dec 2012, 19:32 pm
@kaksioek-351:
Yep, i think GH had the AB team humming, better than Hansen. Plus Hansen is a big mouth.
1 Dec 2012, 19:33 pm
@Hurricane-349: in a crowd of ordinaryness AB’s fluked it more often than anyone else.. France were on top in the WC final but Craig Joubert made certain that AB’s would get the crown in spite of playing ordinary rugby while France were reading them the riot act..
Boks have been ordinary since Mallet started believing his own psyche that he was invincible in 1998
If Boks would select their best players every time instead of dumb idiot coaches ruining the game here we would not be as ordinary as we have been for so long
England showed today how ordinary AB’s can be if the game is taken to them and never let up.. Boks should do it every time but Boks worst enemy is actually themselves.. they don’t have the self belief nor the correct positive attributes to play rugby the way it should be played off the front foot and not playing to damage control defensive cowardly strategies like we do under the last spate or negative defense only oriented coaches.
1 Dec 2012, 19:34 pm
@Hurricane-353: Hansen is benefiting from continuity, Deans seems to have run out of ideas and Meyer has yet to have an idea.
1 Dec 2012, 19:36 pm
This England team with the mix of some exciting youth in this new Lancaster team can actually become one of the top teams in the world..
They will do France more often than the other way around.
Pity SA got such thick coaches because they should never be as ordinary as we have shown since we stopped playing positive proactive rugby in 1999
1 Dec 2012, 19:37 pm
@NZINCHINA-309: You are embarrassing yourself
1 Dec 2012, 19:37 pm
The ABs, like the Boks have had a long season (one game more than us), and England is just staring theirs with a few games to get into their stride. I reckon Lancaster is moving in the right direction compared to HM who is still in a holding pattern of defensive rugby.
1 Dec 2012, 19:37 pm
@skopdiekan-354:
Ok we are ordinary and fluked wins.
Lets see next year
1 Dec 2012, 19:43 pm
So surely this is a far more poignant and relevant thread than that hore fest of nonsensical nothingness racking up garbage posts for the sake of some kindergarten fantasies of continuous idiocy
how about they take this thread on till S15 rugby kicks off in February .. the day the AB’s got hammered by a new look England.. surely that would be a far more fitting tribute to the value of endless repetitive rugby banter ad infinitude on this medium where supreme blogging invincibility tends to be the latest fad of the century
1 Dec 2012, 19:44 pm
Well done England
deserved winners
Too good for the Blacks today
1 Dec 2012, 19:45 pm
@skopdiekan-350:
I thought the drowning out of the Haka would have the opposite effect, as in p.issing the AB’s off.
Can’t say I’m a fan of that, similar to our crowds singing Ole Ole Ole during it.
Did work for England today
1 Dec 2012, 19:45 pm
Farell showed today why he was more deserving of his IRB player of the year nomination then McCheat and Dim Carter!
1 Dec 2012, 19:46 pm
@nortierd-362: If you can stand up to it properly, you can actually unsettle them big time. The French have done this once or twice over the years.
1 Dec 2012, 19:47 pm
@David-358: Lancaster is way ahead of Meyer he at least tries to use some flair and creativity in his strategies.. he has made some mistakes like trying too much too soon.. but I far rather have the coach err on the side of optimistic positive approach than keep stuck in the fear of losing defensive mechanisms that throttle and cut off the blood supply to our recent rugby thinking.
1 Dec 2012, 19:48 pm
Hurricane ou boet You are only as good as your last game as they say in the republic, and we both played the same opponent.
1 Dec 2012, 19:49 pm
@skopdiekan-356:
Do you think White was thick Skop?
I think he did well considering where we were before he took over.
Can’t argue your point with Straulli and Divvie.
HM, too soon to give a fair judgement, next year should tell
1 Dec 2012, 19:51 pm
@nortierd-367: HM has shown he’s just far too conservative already. I really doubt he will change that mindset in his selections, unless his hand is forced.
1 Dec 2012, 19:52 pm
Well done England. All blacks looked ordinary but this defeat was sorely needed… by world rugby!
1 Dec 2012, 19:53 pm
@HongKongSlong-364:
Yep, from the opposing players, yes.
I’m referring to the crowd.
Get worried if our crowd starts singing we are the Champions before a kick off or even before the final whistle.
But it’s all in good fun and it’s nice if it works out
1 Dec 2012, 19:55 pm
Today’s performance was a masterclass from England.
They played territory when they needed to, they ran the ball when they needed to, they offloaded in the tackle, they competed at the breakdown, contested at the lineouts, they did the hard graft first and then used the space they had created. The put so much pressure on the All Blacks that we saw them knocking on and getting penalised more than they have done the entire year. England took their opportunities, they were hard and physical and put the All Blacks to the sword.
And they did all of this despite the reffing going the way of the All Blacks.
A brilliant performance. The best rugby that has been played the entire year.
Well done England.
1 Dec 2012, 19:56 pm
@nortierd-367: White was super thick stuck in the same principles that drive Meyers thinking.. fear of losing defense wins games backward thinking rugby… Jones turned Whites rugby fortunes around.. today White has learned that rugby is not about size or above tenacity or above ability or skill.. he has only lately learned that modern rugby needs to be played with ball possession rather than by playing without the ball as he advocated before Jones taught him pretty much all he knows.
1 Dec 2012, 20:03 pm
@skopdiekan-372:
If you could nominate a coach, or coaching staff, who would you appoint.
For the Boks that is
1 Dec 2012, 20:04 pm
White way more attacking-minded, but the players respect HM more, i aint seen such hero worship since the days of PW – and that counts for a shitload.
1 Dec 2012, 20:05 pm
If NZ wins he says SA is ****
If NZ loses to ENG he says SA is ****…
anyone that dislikes SA that much can only live on the cape flats… NZ not in CHINA.
which is quite sad actually.
1 Dec 2012, 20:07 pm
I see they still kicking that dead horse hore se moer thread for some brain dead delusions of a blogging fantasy of superlative longevity legacy idiocy.
if that isn’t some childish dumdum delusions of blogging brainlessness then I cannot honestly think what else is.
1 Dec 2012, 20:09 pm
@skopdiekan-376:
Don’t think the thread is about the numbers anymore, just people having a good yarn
1 Dec 2012, 20:14 pm
@nortierd-373:
Meyer might have some qualified credentials in terms of overall psychological input though I don’t like his limited family type closed shop ideological approach he is too conservative for my liking and his strategical thinking has shown massive flaws first year up
He should have people like Brendan Venter for backs and his scrumming coach is OK in Pieter De Villiers but his attack coach should not be his forwards coach.. that is just seriously backward thinking negative and conservative tendencies.
Mallet would be a good head coach with Venter for backs and Nienaber for defense with Meyer or De Villiers or even Proudfoot for forwards.
I just don’t like Meyers ultra conservative and old school laager type ingrained so called ‘ traditionalist’ type ideology.
1 Dec 2012, 20:16 pm
@nortierd-377: its actually childish that thing is dead and buried old hat 3rd page off the front page and now its just a continuity if silly escapade for some kind of inane longevity record… don’t make sense to my way of thinking..
this thread at least is current so why they continue posting on that dead hore’s horse is beyond me or any reasonable rationality
1 Dec 2012, 20:19 pm
@skopdiekan-378:
Very valid.
I also think HM should be in the studio and Mallet the coach.
Even guys like Mitchell or Plum have a more liberal approach to the game.
Venter, yes, probably the best guy for the backs.
1 Dec 2012, 20:20 pm
Fark, maybe they will give Owen Farrell the player of the year award on the basis of this game. That will be absurd.
1 Dec 2012, 20:20 pm
The Boks won against the Pom last week despite Nigel Owen and having to carry 3 tokens in their line up
The ABs faced same problem but lost, and they were better rested than the Boks since not having the CC competition during Sept-Oct
The ABs handling errors were baffeling, ball retention after contact poor, they missed tackles aplenty just like De Jongh @ Mvovo and Co.
But they still be able to beat the Boks 9 out of 10.
1 Dec 2012, 20:21 pm
@skopdiekan-379:
Don’t begrudge them.
I had some serious laughs over the last couple of days over there.
Nice escapism from the all the other serious stuff going on
1 Dec 2012, 20:28 pm
Boks beat themselves most times .. their conservative fear of losing cowardice kills off their psychological potential and keeps them playing rugby off the back foot because they are too chicken to play with the ball and attack spaces
England showed today a mix of forward and collision adrenalin aptitude together with carrying the ball through the midfield and through the backs is more balanced and more promising than slick fancy footwork and offload tricky rugby
Basic 15 man game PLUS belief in player and running capability beats either one dimensional 10 man rugby OR flashy slick basket ball type super duper fancy footwork rugby
That is what SA rugby should attempt to generate.. flat out 15 man no compromise rugby. As they used to do in the old days before Markgraaf, Streauli, White, Meyer and co. killed off traditional 15 man old school dominating SA rugby
1 Dec 2012, 20:30 pm
@nortierd-383: escapism is fine.. continuity of silly childishness is just that.. continuity of silly childish attempt for I don’t know what exactly.
1 Dec 2012, 20:35 pm
@kaksioek-351:
i think u are right, but if meyer picked and played right, boks would be top of the heap – also dunno why ABs persisting with umanaga and smith with the likes of SBW and kahui. then again france gave wallabies an almighty hammering so maybe they coming thru.
1 Dec 2012, 20:38 pm
SAW THIS COMING A MILE OFF…..LOVE IT X 10000!
average kiwi team , we just need to play the right game plan and we moer them 6 love….
1 Dec 2012, 20:41 pm
read is cometely overrated. mccaw is too old, savea is nothing special and completely out of kilter considering the strikerruners NZ have had in the past, its the most underpowered AB locking partnership in memory
1 Dec 2012, 20:42 pm
@grant10-387: yeah I had quite a strong gut feel before the game that England were gonna take the AB’s today.. I just didn’t expect it to be by so much
once you get AB’s rattled and you don’t let up (like we do far too often) then they get shaken up and start dropping balls and missing kicks and looking as ordinary as they actually are.
1 Dec 2012, 20:44 pm
England have a very nice blend of youthful rugby potential coming through Lancaster is doing a fine job of getting his best talents to mold together into a committed comprehensive squad
Now Meyer must just get his blindfold fear and conservative cowardice off his closed minded brain and we could do pretty much better than we showed this year.
1 Dec 2012, 20:49 pm
Congrats pommy Kents.
We needed a good beating,now we can start all over again. Always gets difficult when you havn’t lost a game for 400 days or so. You start wondering when it’s going to happen and it’s hard to have the same hunger.
Poor preparation, with half the team at a Rolling Stones concert mid week and another bunch on the town watching a Chelsea match.
Fair dues, the English wanted it more and had more desire..
The ABs are far better to watch after a couple of defeats.
C’est la vie……. Bring on our next opponent
1 Dec 2012, 20:51 pm
England asked questions today to which New Zealand had no answers I’m afraid.
An absolutely superb performance from the Poms. They were brutal and urgent and have recorded an historic win.
The IRB has been very lenient against the All Blacks in recent weeks. Unfortunately for New Zealand, Englanbd were not as forgiving.
Let us not forget that the scoreline today flattered New Zealand hugely. I note that a possible 21 points could be added to the difference today due to refereeing “errors”.
Well done England.
1 Dec 2012, 20:52 pm
Watching Oz against Wales – Oz are dire.
1 Dec 2012, 20:54 pm
@bokke baiter-391:
master baiter, since when you an AB fan? i thought u hail from krugersdorp?
1 Dec 2012, 20:55 pm
73 minutes gone and Oz only had 9 points on the board.
1 Dec 2012, 20:55 pm
And England ladies whitewash the Blackferns 3-0. GREAT day for English rugby (except the 7′s!)
1 Dec 2012, 20:56 pm
@grant10-387: It must be amazing being a clairvoyant,did you see that snotting you got in Soweto coming too..no,cause your just a Knobhead
1 Dec 2012, 20:56 pm
Barnes and Beale both took football dives in the game.
1 Dec 2012, 20:59 pm
@cab-394: Go hail a Cab
1 Dec 2012, 21:00 pm
@bokke baiter-397: Put your toys back in your pram.
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