The 2015 World Cup final will be held at Twickenham on the 31st of October in front of close to 90,000 people. If the weekend’s matchup was a test run, the All Blacks passed with distinction; the English faltered.
Despite a fast start, a one man advantage mid way through the second half, and the benefit of a dubious penalty try, the English were clearly second best. They have done little to suggest they have improved since their mid year trip to New Zealand; the gap between the sides remains, and in actual fact is larger than the three point winning margin suggests.
England’s unsettled midfield combination and their inability to find points in the second half was a telling difference between the two sides in the difficult Autumn rain. Ultimately the side with 400 more test caps than the other utilised their superior skills to take the spoils.
The All Blacks who had woes of their own, namely their goal-kicking, once again showed just how difficult they are to beat. Led by the heroic Richie McCaw the All Blacks have an uncanny knack of staying calm even under the most intense pressure, and still escaping with victories. Knowing how to win, is jut as important at not knowing how to lose; the All Blacks are quite simply better than any other International rugby team (probably in history) at it.
The win did not always appear to be on course. Johnny May streaked past Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg in rather embarrassing (for the All Blacks pair anyway) fashion to give England the perfect start. With Owen Farrell also contributing points with the boot, the English took a surprising lead to the break and the Twickenham vocal chords were in full, hopeful voice.
The second half was a different story. The All Blacks gave England next to no ball and ran in tries to captain McAwesome and Charlie Famine. At 24-14 there was only ever going to be one winner. England late penalty try was merely consolation.
McCaw was New Zealand’s best player, followed by Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino, Sam Whitlock and Aaron Smith. While, Cruden’s and Barrett’s kicking yips should see Daniel Carter start next week against Scotland, along with a number of other rotation policy changes.
England’s coach Stuart Lancaster remained optimistic about his side’s World Cup chances. He can rightly take heart in the work of his teams line-out and scrum.
The 2015 World Cup form guide will again be getting a workout with Internationals that pit England against South Africa, and New Zealand against Scotland. Time is running out for teams to build confidence, and send warning shots, especially to the All Blacks.
