Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: All Blacks vs England highlights from Christchurch

Sunday, June 22, 2008

All Blacks vs England highlights from Christchurch

In their second clash in two weeks, England and New Zealand met once again, each with their own points to prove. Though both teams had plenty of opportunities to score, it was New Zealand's precision and execution that saw the All Blacks come out on top of with a convincing 44-12 score line.

Poor finishing from Tom Varndell and an unfortunate dropped ball from Matthew Tait saw a guaranteed 10 points slip through England's grasp in the first forty minutes of the match. Defensively, once again, England struggled to contain the likes of Daniel Carter (who managed an individual haul of 22 points on the night), Ma'a Nonu and debutant Richard Kahui in the midfield.

Problems for England but not so for the All Blacks, managing five tries this week (one more than last week) and demonstrating why they have the reputation as being the most clinical rugby team in the world, even after not taking all of the chances presented to them. Overall, they were simply too good for the opposition on the night, and despite being physically tested for two weeks, take the series 2-0 without too much trouble.

England now head home with a lot to think about, and for a well earned rest, while New Zealand goes on to the 2008 Tri-Nations with the enduring pain of 2007 finally starting to fade away.

Final Score: 44-12

Time: 05:14

No excuses, England were outclassed

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 12:29 pm
tait yet again showed reason to start. lets hope the new regieme recognises this

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 12:41 pm
Carter ripped england to shreds no question.

While England had their moments, Varndell's near miss and tait's knockon on the line, dont forget that kiwis had 2 tries ruled out pretty harshly, sivivatu and thompson's tries might have stood more times then not.

To be honest, there's only 2 in England's best 15 that is definitely missing, Harry Ellis at 9 and Danny Cipriani at 10. Some close calls on Vickery and Sackey, but i thought this was a pretty good english outfit, and frankly i think it shows again that the guisness premiership/heineken cup is not the best league in the world.

Case in point, wasps vs leicester Guisness Premiership Final, Wasps turnovered leicester's ball on numerous occasions, but against the all blacks and the likes of mccaw and so'oialo rees and haskell while still more dynamic den previous english packs, didnt have that big an impact.

The english's much lauded strength in the tight 5 never really lived up to their hype, and the english's defence in the backs just not good enough. Its 1 thing to face a grossly overweight andy goode, or the slight frame of ryan lamb, but its quite another facing dan carter

Finally the english tight 5

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 12:55 pm
I would say that this is not England best squad. I feel at full strenght here is my suggested back line

9/ ellis/care
10/wilko/cips
11/sackey/ ojo
12/fluety/gheraty/hipkiss
13/tait/tindell/barkely
14/strettle
15/lucy

not to mention likes of shaw vickery sheraden easter etc. out from the pack

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 1:20 pm
Daniel Carter once again shows why he is vital to our squad, he set up most of those tries.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 1:26 pm
once again, we kicked arse!!!

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 2:18 pm
England loked intimidated to me, looking at the men b4 they got the ball & making stpid errors eg no. in the lineout.
on the haskall break early on from the lineout care was nieve in trying a chip over the top when all he needed to do was reset it.
i dont think the current team will go very far

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 2:32 pm
I don't care what people say about how he plays for Newcastle but Tait always performs for England, that back three are lethal.

England were outclassed but they had a new manager working with a under strength team but still should have done a lot better than that. In all fairness they were only missing 2 or 3 definite starters.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 2:33 pm
I don't care what people say, i think one of Englands biggest problems is confidence in themselfs and their team mates and the fact there hasn't been any expectation for them in years.

Everytime an England game comes around everyone is billing them to lose, there's never any real get behind it always seems to be more pessimism from the fans.

That's not to say with confidence and actual expectation they'd have won either test.

But i think it plays a big role. That and the fact we're randomising the squad almost each game without giving any of the sides time to gel.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 2:49 pm
England have some positives. Rees and Haskell have played well, with Narraway. Jordan Crane will come into the mix at some point and may add some raw power to compliment the others skills. Care has added some spark, he has been involved with three of four tries they have scored on this tour. Barkley has looked competent and Tait looked dangerous. Ojo played well, but is still very raw. A few players counted themselves out, Hodgson ushered Nonu through, Tindall looked slow and was turned inside out for many tries and Brown was show up as to slow

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 4:09 pm
varndell's try was not really poor finishing - that's harsh. McDonald always had the angle on him and it was a pretty tight call - I thought he had a decent game and hopefully he will get some more chances. Tait must start.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 4:50 pm
ellis
cips
simpson daniel
flood
tait
strettle
lewsey

care
wilko
sackey

and get crane at no 8 leave haskell as a 6

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 4:54 pm
Iceman...totally agree.

Varndell's defense is now much better than it was last time he played for England, and he's developing into a very complete winger.

I hope he features in the set-up in the future.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 5:04 pm
They should have played Andy Farrell. Srsly!

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 5:25 pm
Surely not jordan crane. Jordan crane got creamed vs rees haskell and dallaglio guisness final with his laboured mates of herring and corry.

Narraway haskell and rees are england's most dynamic backrow since hill back and dallaglio 5 yrs ago.

And to that dude that said flutey, he's not even english. Ellis, Cipriani, Sackey and Lewsey are 4 backs that cld have made the team, but the latter 2 are surely not that much better den varndell, ojo and tait, the english back 3 vs NZ

Kiwi supporter here btw so just my 2 cents.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 5:54 pm
fluety is able to play on resedencey

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 6:03 pm
I personally think Jordan Crane is a brilliant talent, watching the Saxons games he has developed as a much more dynamic player giving offloads and carrying well. I think he could bring balance to the english backrow. I mean he must be pretty good, motm in 2 out of 3 games and could probably have got it for the other one aswell.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 6:12 pm
lewseys gota be in at fb, experience, gud at taking the high ball, team m8s wud be confident in him

cranes the man im a tiger

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 6:42 pm
Worryingly we don't have any real quality out and out fullbacks coming through at the moment - Brown for me is solid but just isn't good enough for international level. At the moment I would have a backline, when everybody is fit, of

9 Ellis
10 Cipriani
11 Varndell
12 Flood/Barkley
13 Tait
14 Strettle/Sackey
15 Lewsey/Foden

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 6:47 pm
Varndell got a lot better in Defense, but he should get into the thick of it a bit more, like Habana does, he shouldent be afraid to run in to the center of the field he is around 100 kg so it would not hurt him.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 7:14 pm
As a neutral, I disagree with the comments here about Varndell's finishing - it was poor.

He got the ball, looked to be jogging at first, then with the line in sight he went in way too high. THAT is poor finishing for an international winger, simple. Put guys like Habana or Sivivatu in that position and they'll dive in low, making it impossible for the defender to have a chance of getting them. Wings are there to finish, and he struggled to do that.
All my opinion of course, but I think I'm right on this one. :P
I did WANT him to score though. :)

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 7:31 pm
The main thing England need is some kind of continuity in the squad and coaching staff, and a decent fly-half.

my ideal squad for the AIs to develop for the future would probably be something like this.

1. Sheridan
2. Paice
3. Vickery
4. Grewcock (until they can find a big, brusier-type lock with a bit more left in the tank, but he is in form so they may as well pick him)
5. Kennedy (in for borthwick, who I don't think even deserved a place in the team, let alone the captaincy)
6. Haskell
7. Rees
8. Narraway (this backrow has a good deal of potential, but it might also be good to move Haskell to 8 a few times and experiment with a few different blindsides)
9. Care/Ellis (depending on form)
10. Cipriani (if fit)/Wilkinson
11. Ojo
12. Barkley/Geraghty (tight call)
13. Hipkiss/Noon (anyone but Tindall really, he seems past it)
14. Sackey
15. Tait (He's more than earned his place in the line up and has the potential to be an outstanding fullback as long as he can focus on it)

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 8:03 pm
anyone see that sick offload from kahui?13's been the problem position for nz since umaga left, now they have two classy centres in conrad smith and kahui

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 10:43 pm
Captain tackle(s) out for first half of tri-nations... huge loss bugger it

Tait and Care were the only ones who seemed like they actually wanted to play in the Eng. backline IMO

By boomshanka, at June 22, 2008 11:31 pm
RICKY FLUTEY WILL DEFINATELY BE OUR 12 COME SEPTEMBER WHEN HE QUALIFIES FOR RESIDENCY, WITH HIM AND CIPRIANI PLAYING TOGETHER FOR ENGLAND THE BACKLINE WILL LOOK ALOT BETTER THAN IT IS AT THE MOMENT. TINDALL AND BROWN BOTH LACK PACE FOR BACKS, I WOULD WHACK HIPKISS AT 13 AS HE IS GAS AND CIPS WOULD GIVE HIM SPACE. WINGERS DEFINATELY OJO AND VARNDELL, WITH TAIT AT THE BACK.

By Anonymous, at June 23, 2008 8:24 pm
I'm a kiwi and yes we did play well and won, Carter is on fire. Out of the entire English squad Matthew Tait is definitely going to be the next Jason Robinson. He showed some great examples of individual skill and should always be in the starting lineup.

I feel sorry for Flood and Tait, both taking some hard hits.

By Anonymous, at June 23, 2008 11:52 pm
No matter what you people say, Cipriani even if he was fit should not of been put up against the All Black's.

You would need a man with plenty of experience in flyhalf like Wilkinson to attempt to take on the calibur of Daniel Carter, Cipriani is good when it comes to playing second rate flyhalfs but lets not forget Daniel Carter is the best in the world in flyhalf.

By Anonymous, at June 24, 2008 2:48 am
the kiwis will have a tougher time with the bok's in the tri nations.... It will be great to watch Carter vs james.. james is solid in defense but not as dynamic as Carter..

By Anonymous, at June 25, 2008 7:18 pm
cipriani, shaw, vickery, ellis, sackey, lewsey never featured at all
strettle, sheridan, stevens, missed the majority of the tour.

thats seven of the first XV, but England don't have the same strength in depth of the All Blacks. The backline was outclassed and the forward pack slower in mind. However, for many of the touring squad they have had a 45+ game season, lasting twelve months. Considering many of the All Blacks left for Europe this season, a good number of the All Black squad barely eclipsed twenty competitive matches. Running 8km week in week out for 50, aswell as playing high class rugby takes it toll and if your not completely bias I think you can see the play. The All Blacks were a lot sharper.

By Anonymous, at June 26, 2008 4:57 pm
i dont think the english players wanted to play against the abs after what happened the week before in auckland after the game. Dan carter once again showed why hes the best first-five in the world.

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2008 10:09 am