England miss late chances to claim prized New Zealand scalp in narrow defeat

By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent

England were left distraught by another missed opportunity to topple New Zealand after George Ford just failed to convert a late penalty and drop-goal attempt in a 24-22 defeat at Allianz Stadium.

The All Blacks had regained the lead when Mark Tele’a plundered the second of his two tries, but the hosts were presented with a late chance to snatch victory when Anton Lienert-Brown made a dangerous tackle on Theo Dan.

Ford saw his 77th-minute penalty hit the right upright and once England had failed to make the most of the ensuing short-range scrum, he was also wide with a drop-goal in a heartbreaking conclusion to the Autumn Nations Series opener.

England prop Joe Marler had lit the fuse for the match by dismissing the Haka as “ridiculous” and calling for it to be “binned”, but the fireworks promised by All Blacks captain Scott Barrett in response never materialised until the closing stages.

Instead, a disappointingly poor New Zealand were reeled in during the second quarter as England looked to avenge their 2-0 series defeat to the same opponents in July.

The All Blacks showed their killer instinct in scoring first-half tries by Tele’a and Will Jordan, although they were assisted by weaknesses in the home defence that saw Ellis Genge exposed twice.

A steady stream of Marcus Smith penalties, two of them won by England’s dominant scrum, kept the hosts in the fight and the game was turned on its head. Their fly-half orchestrated a vital score for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

New Zealand were not done, however, as they engineered a crucial touchline for Tele’a that was improved by a touchdown conversion from Damian McKenzie.

Marler’s view on the Haka was clearly not shared by the 82,000 crowd as they roared on England’s advance to the halfway line to confront the Maori war dance ahead of kick-off.

It was a captivating spectacle that was soon matched by England’s slick start as they used short chips to the wings to move downfield where pressure forced a penalty rifled over by Smith.

But in a flash the good work was undone when Wallace Sititi sucked in two tacklers and produced a stunning off-load to wing Tele’a, who evaded Genge and danced down the touchline to score.

Smith hit back with a penalty and following some nervy exchanges, England were the first to ignite with Maro Itoje making successive breaks, releasing Ben Spencer on one of them.

Serving as a reminder of New Zealand’s threat, Jordie Barrett slipped through a posse of white shirts to launch a counter-attack that ultimately led to their second try through Jordan.

It came when Beauden Barrett and Jordan combined beautifully to manipulate a vulnerability in England’s ruck defence, their vision and speed exposing the unfortunate Genge.

Smith’s boot was all that was keeping the hosts in contention, although a monster hit by Chandler Cunningham-South on Tupou Vaa’i lifted spirits that continued to rise when a scrum penalty produced another three points for Smith.

New Zealand led 14-12 at the interval, but Smith turned the tables in the 44th minute when he intercepted a pass by Cortez Ratima, raced ahead and, once George Furbank had acted as the link, Feyi-Waboso was over for the score.

Smith had read the All Blacks’ intentions brilliantly and the Harlequins playmaker was now centre stage, his fifth penalty completing a massive swing as it came when the tourists had a try disallowed for a deliberate knock-on.

A McKenzie penalty set-up a grandstand finish and it was New Zealand who held their nerve.