The opening match of England’s Autumn Nations Series ended in defeat, with New Zealand claiming victory in the most dramatic fashion. George Ford missed two crucial kicks at goal in the closing moments of the match, that would have secured England their first home win against the All Blacks since 2012.
The Sale Sharks fly half struck the post from a penalty in the 78th minute, and sliced a drop goal wide of the mark with the clock in the red. It was a heartbreaking end to the game for England, who were leading with 20 minutes remaining at the Allianz. New Zealand fought hard throughout the match to stay within distance of their hosts, as wing Mark Tele’a shone on the day with two well taken tries.
There was plenty to discuss after the match as England head coach Steve Borthwick and his captain Jamie George spoke to the media, and addressed the narrow defeat to start their Autumn campaign. On everything from the response to the Haka ahead of the match, to the decision behind changing both halfbacks at 62 minutes, here are the five biggest talking points from England’s post match press conference.
1. Why Steve Borthwick brought on George Ford and Harry Randall at the hour mark
STEVE BORTHWICK: “Well, then when you got players the caliber of those guys, either guys that came off bench, the threat that Harry Randall is and the experience that George Ford brings.
“For the last part ultimately, we were in a position to win that game. So you’ve got to always respect the opposition. New Zealand are a quality side. They’ve just played, since we last played together, they played seven Test matches and have been together for three months. It’s a different context to where we’re at. Credit to them, we will be better next week.”
2. Jamie George explains England’s response to the All Blacks Haka
JAMIE GEORGE: “It was something that we had spoken about, or I’ve been thinking about for a couple of weeks. I spoke with the senior players. I spoke with Steve. It wasn’t a reaction to Joe (Marler).
“I had spoken to Joe about the possibility of doing it, and then he enjoys putting things on social media. So that was how that went. So I was very thankful for Joe for that today (sarcasm).
“But no, look, I think we as ever, in terms of a response to the Haka, we always wanted to do it in a very respectful way, and the atmosphere was electric. New Zealand advancing as well. I think that just adds to the theatre, adds to the spectacle. I think everyone today massively enjoyed the atmosphere. I think it added to what was an incredible atmosphere for 80 minutes.”
3. “Width of the post” – Borthwick and George explain the fine margins of the Test match stage
STEVE BORTHWICK: “There’s a lot of experienced players on the pitch, then they know what we’re trying to do. We know what we’re trying to do when we get a position to almost convert it, he didn’t miss by too much.
“I think if you look over the last period to that time, the team in those drop goal situations has been pretty successful. We didn’t, we weren’t today, but ultimately, this is the width of the post. Now that’s the reality. This is the width of the post. The result goes one way or the other, and that’s an issue of test rugby. And when you got two good teams, and they were two good teams today.”
JAMIE GEORGE: “Of course, we’re disappointed. I think, like Steve has spoken about, we were in a position to win the game. And whenever you put yourself in positions like lithat, and don’t come away with a win, then of course you’re going to be disappointed.
“We certainly learned lessons from the Summer and certain games that have been close in the past. And as Steve said, you know, bounce of a ball or the kick goes slightly further left, and we’re talking about a very different result.”
4. Jamie George explains how England practiced the drop goal move in training
JAMIE GEORGE: “We’re a team that covers a lot of detail, and we’ve spoken about being in that exact position, we’ve walked through being in that exact position, and we actually felt like we were in control of it.
“We kept attacking that’s, that’s the thing that we made sure that we focused on and learn a bit from New Zealand in the Summer, was that we probably stopped attacking a little bit, and we kept attacking them. Unfortunately, George didn’t make the kick. But I tell you what, he hasn’t missed many in his career. So we certainly can’t mend that.”
5. Flanker Focus: Tom Curry’s return and Chandler Cunningham-South continues to grow as a Test match player
STEVE BORTHWICK: I thought Tom Curry played really well today. I think he’s a world class operator, and I think it’s wonderful to have him back in our team as fit as he is. the contact area was without question a focus. We’ve seen that with New Zealand and how the level of competition they have, same applies to Australia next week.
“Australia winning a lot of breakdown penalties, a lot of breakdown turnovers. We need to make sure that our attacking contact area next week is even better than what it was today.”
“I think Chandler’s development over this last period of time has been excellent, and he’s a real determined player who who’s growing to be a real test match player. This is a very young man who’s changed clubs, who’s had to then develop and learn the system a new club, and then how that operates.
“And at same point in time I altered his position. He’s playing for us at six but mainly at eight, and now he’s working at six. I think he’s doing a tremendous job.”
