I'm literally stunned. Honestly didn't give us an earthly. Last time we beat EnZed we hadn't yet won Bill.
Just watched the game. Absolutely buzzing, fantastic performance from everyone. Tuilagi was absolutely incredible, and Farrell ran the game. Awesome.
Reckon with Flood, Farrell and Burns (who looked quality), England have got three of the four/five best fly halves in Europe at the moment.
I actually said to my brother a few days ago the all blacks may actually lose this game. Reasons being The bug that hit the team 2 key players/positions carrying injuries which I felt were worse then let on Mealamu and Carter Most of the players have played around 20 games this season and from watching their body language in particular Conrad Smith and McCaw I felt they were warn down.
Yeah England played some good rugby, shut NZ down and just defended well in general. Actually think it's a good thing tbh, the ever increasing gap between the All Blacks and Northern Hemisphere in particular isn't necessarily a good thing for rugby worldwide moving forward as a whole. England showed that despite having a worse and less experienced team on paper that you can still pull out a win. It will probably be their only good win for years mind you but take it fellas
Our forwards were better than our backs imo. Completely shut NZ down for all but that 5-10 minute spell in second half. Woods was sick.
http://stats.allblacks.com/ We've lost 7 times to the poms now. In the 70s and 80s I don't ever remember dropping one to them. Anyways well done Engerlund. We want a rematch.
I dunno, sometimes I got the impression that there were two teams involved in this match. Could be wrong though.
Oh yeah I agree - the back row in particular was fantastic. But seeing Farrell outperform Carter by so much was great to see. Still think Tuilagi should have been MOTM as good as Wood was.
Missed George Ford from the list. Kid could be the best of the lot, tbh. Not 20 til next March. Solid kicking game but it's his hands and step that excite. If Cipriani was as good as he thought he was he'd be as good as this boy. 2003 in Wellington; 2002 was our last home win. We've only once got with a score of the ABs since, so this is just, wow. Stunning.
Tuilagi had a very average second half though. He was involved in all 3 tries yes but he only played really well for the last 30 minutes whereas Wood was outstanding throughout. A number of players were really quite good though. Everything that was wrong with our other 2 SH big matches were corrected here. Perfect end to the autumn.
England did play well - but what was the guts with this bug? Starting to sound like the SA world cup - bitter memories. Even with two wins we are the biggest under achievers there.
Honestly think Manu would make a better wing than outside centre. He had the presence of mind to set Ashton up for the second try & there was a nice interchange with his centre partner for the first, but passing isn't really his thing and he's a marvellously destructive runner. The way he side stepped Nonu and broke past Carter and McCaw was a thing of beauty. Barritt's solid defensively and the way he found the gap for the first try was encouraging, but I'd like a ball playing 2nd 5/8 at inside. With the playmakers we have I reckon one could fit the bill. Will Greenwood, who knows a thing or two about playing at inside centre, reckons Flood is the best 12 we have currently.
Used to play as wing right when he first played I think. But yeah agree we could improve the centres by playing someone more creative at 12.
There's not many sports teams in the world - if any - which I dislike more than England's rugby team. Sad to see em win any game, let alone outplay the All Blacks. Hopefully that's what the All Blacks need in terms of a kick up the arse after a fairly lacklustre year.
