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, 21:00 pm
FOUR HUNDRED
What a fcking star I am
go for a blogging record.. who’s counting ???
1 Dec 2012, 21:01 pm
77 minutes gone and Wales have a lineout 5 metres from the Oz line. They win it – how did they lose from here?
1 Dec 2012, 21:01 pm
@kaksioek-398:
barnes’ should be embaressed, aussiebattler’s can be real baby sometimes. mind you old brussow, habana and fdp were’nt doing too bad at one stage. i thought it was the oscars, u only do that in front of your home crowd, and then only if u got no self-respect.
1 Dec 2012, 21:02 pm
@skopdiekan-401: Skop I completely agree with you about Tuilagi moving to 12 and Jonathan Joseph coming in at 13.
Although today, I thought Barritt was superb. The perfect player for today’s type of game which was a victory built on a platform of brutal defence.
1 Dec 2012, 21:02 pm
@skopdiekan-401: Hard luck, Skop.
1 Dec 2012, 21:02 pm
@Kaizan-400: oh sorry I missed.. too bad perhaps some immaculate blogging purpose was out of line with my inane intention
1 Dec 2012, 21:03 pm
@HongKongSlong-396: woman’s rugby is plain `Wrong’
1 Dec 2012, 21:04 pm
@bokke baiter-399:
dont be a sore loser, it was a good old hammering, stop crying like a baby baiter.
1 Dec 2012, 21:04 pm
Wales put on a masterclass of losing when it was easier to win. Sublime.
1 Dec 2012, 21:04 pm
@bokke baiter-407: Changing the subject to Women’s rugby won’t help your cause. You lost against England in that code too.
1 Dec 2012, 21:06 pm
Ouch that was painful. We were hammered….
Carter missing two penalty kicks in the first half certainly didn’t help. Giving England a 15 point lead in the first half was too much to come back from. Carter missing as the English kicked their goals also gave the English self belief.
Well played England they played some great rugby, in both the backs and the forwards. The English pack was awesome, really kept the abs out of the game.
I think this settles the argument – this AB side is not as good as the 96/97 side. In a similar sort of game, and with their captain on the sideline, that AB side clawed back a large early deficit to salvage a draw and an unbeaten season. This team couldn’t do that (not enough class in our forwards being the difference I think).
Off to sulk. For the rest of the day.
1 Dec 2012, 21:07 pm
@corporal punishment-411: You’re English. Be merry and rejoice.
1 Dec 2012, 21:07 pm
@Kaizan-410: the subject was already created
1 Dec 2012, 21:07 pm
@bokke baiter-413: The point remains.
1 Dec 2012, 21:08 pm
@skopdiekan-401:
Ha ha
That’s the spirit
1 Dec 2012, 21:08 pm
@Kaizan-404:
yeah Barrit had a lucky break because Farrell put him neatly into a barn door gap which he made the most of.. Barrit is a decent work like center but no game breaker..
the times that Tuilagi takes the ball hard through 2nd receiver channel like he did when he ran straight over Carter makes him the ultimate No.12 and then a silky flyer like Brown or Joseph should take off at outside center outside him.
and that new no. 10 Burns looks like a good backup to Farrell with more of an adventurous and open game playing feel.. I thought Lancaster made a mistake taking Farrell and Tuilagi off but the replacements did pretty OK
1 Dec 2012, 21:09 pm
i had a feeling the ABs would not get up for this one and england would. just forgot to make the darned bet.
well done england. you give us all hope! lets hope meyer gets our back firing, coz when we learn to use all that ball… we’ll be pretty damn potent.
1 Dec 2012, 21:09 pm
And then the crowd full of sore losers booed Sharpe for taking the conversion of Beale’s winning try in his 116th and very last Test and the commentator says Sharpe – and not the booing crowd – is being disrespectful!
Fark me, what a bunch of losers the Welsh are.
1 Dec 2012, 21:09 pm
Well well well…….nobody would have predicted this. England you have made international rugby interesting again.
1 Dec 2012, 21:10 pm
@corporal punishment-411:
Think Carter got a copy of ” kicking and coaching how to kick my way” from Louis Koen in his Christmas stocking
1 Dec 2012, 21:13 pm
@skopdiekan-416: Yeah I thought it was a bold call bringing the replacements on in a game like this but Lancaster seems to know what he is doing and he got the win, so credit to him.
England were well and truly up for it today. They put a lot of pressure on the ABs and forced them into errors and they were hungry for the full 80 minutes. I thought it was a brilliant performance.
England are starting to look like a really decent team with Lancaster there.
1 Dec 2012, 21:13 pm
@kaksioek-418:
lol – the best are those two braindead commentators, its eddie butler and that punchdrunk hooker moore, the old stereotypical rugby boofheads.
1 Dec 2012, 21:15 pm
@Delki-419: Actually a few of us predicted this, myself included. Go ask Poppa about the discussion he and I had before today’s game.
1 Dec 2012, 21:17 pm
alarm set for 4 am
Go Amla, Kallis and the boys…moer hulle
1 Dec 2012, 21:19 pm
@grant10-424:
are u crazy getting up at that time? i thought we were getting moered…
1 Dec 2012, 21:24 pm
All Blacks = chokers.
Win streak recod… Choke.
Unbeaten season… Choke.
Congrats to the pommies. They played the type of rugby we have been wanting to play but have had too brain-dead a coach to actually facilitate it.
1 Dec 2012, 21:33 pm
@john123-239: I agree with you ,there is no arrogance in this side coaching staff and its not encouraged or tolerated between the players. I personally find english rugy supporters the most civilised in the world. Some club games total silence when kickers line up to kick, compare that to the histerical booing you get everywhere else. Do not forget this young english team run OZ and SA close but for some inexperience decicion making. I got a feeling english rugby is much healthier now than it ever were. 2003 were full of superstars,these guys are mostly ordinary but are playing for each other. The all blacks were not bad today they were outplayed and outmuscled everywhere. They were talking about their legacy all week, well here’s one for the legacy. Well done England.
1 Dec 2012, 21:38 pm
@cab-425: We’re in prime position against the Aussies !!!
1 Dec 2012, 21:40 pm
@skopdiekan-389:
Of course you did you old phony.
1 Dec 2012, 21:46 pm
@Slumtown-262: Slumtown imo you talk a lot of sense but you got your soft in the head moments.
1 Dec 2012, 21:51 pm
No sign of poppa? Must be eating **** filled humble pie…
1 Dec 2012, 21:52 pm
@grant10-387: Six love – LOL. Just a reminder – it’s England who won, for your lot it’s 0-2.
@kaksioek-409: Unfortunately, Welsh are chokers this year, at least fourth time they simply hand victory to Australia in dying moments.
@corporal punishment-411: Yup, only for 10 mins they played like we were expecting (and scored 2 tries during that time), other 70 mins English were better, simple as that. It happens once in a while.
@Dawn-306: Ease up Dawn.
1 Dec 2012, 22:02 pm
@NZINCHINA-287: And well done to you.
1 Dec 2012, 22:05 pm
@bokke baiter-407: You like them better barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen hey? Oaf.
1 Dec 2012, 22:07 pm
@ryecatcher-433: You utter tool
1 Dec 2012, 22:14 pm
Calm down Keo all this talk of mortals and immortals. I think you’ve been reading to many Marvel comics. It’s only a game mate. You sound a little pulverised. (Your new fav word by the sounds)To many gin and tonics today me thinks.
1 Dec 2012, 22:16 pm
@bokke baiter-436: And you sound sour,not a little either batman.
1 Dec 2012, 22:48 pm
@bokke baiter-436: Sounds like you are in denial on the pumeling.
1 Dec 2012, 22:49 pm
@jet jungle-437: Never mind him. His head hasn’t computed the beating. Poor man.
1 Dec 2012, 22:55 pm
@mikeybrass-439: Anybody that hangs around this site do not see rugby as just a game.;)
1 Dec 2012, 23:16 pm
England didn’t win by grinding it out in a dour grunty forward war of attrition. NZ were outrazzled and outdazzled — beaten at their own game by men in white who laughed and smiled and who played with astounding confidence and great skill. It wasn’t even close.
1 Dec 2012, 23:17 pm
didnt see the game, but congratulations England.. sounds like the ABs were completely outplayed..
good result for them…
1 Dec 2012, 23:28 pm
The French demolition of Australia three weeks ago was even superior to this magnificernt English performance and, so sadly, it seems like very few people saw it. On that day they would have done the same to the All Blacks.
On another note, Jean de Villiers should be stripped of his Springbok captaincy with immediate effect for publicly implying New Zealand were unbeatable; England believed, and playing very similarly the style of Bok sides that beat NZ, showed that passion, courage and 110% from ALL the players in a team for the ENTIRE game will win a match, everytime. Nobody, without exception nobody with the honour of captaining the Springboks, should ever feel the other side is better and unbeatable: disgraceful, unacceptable thing to say Jean.
For the rest of us we will need to appreciate that England’s mentality and pyschology, not to mention their huge forwards and natural talents, are now harnessed and will move to the next level – and must surely put them as one of the favourites, at Twickenham, to recpature the World Cup.
1 Dec 2012, 23:34 pm
@J.B. Cowper-443: This was a very similar performance to some of the Boks greatest performances. England were wounded and written off by everyone and they came out passionately super charged and blew the All Blacks away. Do the Boks have a lack of passion under Meyer?
1 Dec 2012, 23:36 pm
England end NZs unbeaten run in the AI’s, which goes back to 2004 I think..
good result for rugby, and will be interested to see how the English side kick on from this, should give them confidence going into the 6Nations…
Commiserations ABs, no excuses, lost to the better team on the day..
1 Dec 2012, 23:37 pm
@J.B. Cowper-443: have to agree with that tonight’s performance was everything that makes the game beautiful.
1 Dec 2012, 23:44 pm
wow
yesterday i put $2 on an outside chance bet that england would win by 10+, man city would draw, Indiana pacers to beat the kings and now if the west indies win it could return close $4000 …im not holding my breath
but wow a stupid punt could turn out to be a smart one.
oh just to cover my backside i did put another $2 with the ABs winning and all the others the same that was going to come back $27 teehee
1 Dec 2012, 23:54 pm
@poppa69-445:
@poppa69-442:
I told you so.
1 Dec 2012, 23:58 pm
Lovely to see the united nations of the pacific rugby team loose today , well played england, pity Hore got another joke of a suspension.
2 Dec 2012, 00:00 am
@TheTackler-441: “NZ were outrazzled and outdazzled — beaten at their own game by men in white who laughed and smiled…”
Sounds like a *** pride parade, Tackles.
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