Beauden Barrett yesterday came off the bench to inspire the All Blacks to a 24-17 victory over England in an Auckland thriller, denying the visitors a drought-breaking victory and locking up a 2-0 series win.
Barrett set up the second of two tries to winger Mark Tele’a in the 61st minute just as England, losers by a single point in the first Test in Dunedin last week, threatened to end New Zealand’s 30-year unbeaten run at Eden Park.
All Blacks flyhalf Damian McKenzie kicked a fourth penalty five minutes from time to extend the lead to seven points and New Zealand held the visitors out in the frantic final minutes.
Photo: AP
“It was a proper Test match and we expected nothing less from a classy side,” Barrett said. “Oh mate, that’s Test footy, it comes down to the wire like that. So proud of the boys for showing some good belief and finishing it off there.”
I “was just showing a bit of energy really, to give us some shape and structure and we did well to pull some strings off the back of that, but it was a hell of a test match,” he said.
England flyhalf Marcus Smith had set up tries for wingers Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman with cross-kicks and added seven points from the kicking tee to take his team close to a first victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand since 2003.
Photo: AP
It was the England pack, spearheaded by lock Maro Itoje, who had laid the foundation for a second world-class performance in as many weeks with their immense physicality keeping the home side on the back foot for much of the night.
“It’s been a long season for us dating back to the start of the World Cup,” England skipper Jamie George said. “I think we’re a significantly better team than when we started and there’s hugely exciting times ahead for this English team.”
The first quarter was frenetic as both teams were running the ball from everywhere, but it was New Zealand who opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Tele’a picked up the ball at the back of a ruck and streaked to the line down the blindside.
Photo: AFP
England responded three minutes later when Smith hoisted a kick across to Feyi-Waboso and the wing weaved between the last two defenders to touch down.
The All Blacks almost got in again in the 19th minute with an attack down the left flank, but Smith raced back and intercepted the final pass to save the try.
England’s defense was again steely and New Zealand opted to hand the ball to McKenzie on their next two kickable penalties and led 13-7 until just before halftime, when Smith, playing under advantage, took the ball just outside the 22m line and lofted another perfect kick across to Tommy Freeman, who leaped above Tele’a to gather and touch down.
Photo: AP
Smith missed three kicks last week, but nailed both conversions in the first half before extending England’s lead to 17-13 with a penalty nine minutes into the second half.
The crowd of 48,362 was starting to get jittery as England continued to dominate territory and possession, but All Blacks coach Scott Robertson had started emptying his bench and Beauden Barrett entered the contest.
Taking an early ball from McKenzie on the hour mark, the former world player of the year slashed through a gap in the defensive line before straightening up and releasing Tele’a to apply the finish to a fine try.
England thought they had rolled a maul over the line that would have given them a shot at leveling up the scores in the dying seconds, but the officials ruled that there had been obstruction before ruling on whether the ball had been grounded.
AUSTRALIA V WALES
AFP, MELBOURNE
The Wallabies yesterday won 36-28 over Wales, who extended their horror run to nine straight defeats.
Filipo Daugunu scored twice, with Jake Gordon and Allan Alaalatoa also crossing for the hosts on a wet and cold Melbourne night.
They took a 23-14 lead into the break and withstood intense second-half pressure and a series of handling errors to seal the series 2-0.
Defeat piled more pain on Warren Gatland’s team, who are now one loss away from equalling Wales’ all-time record of 10 consecutive defeats, which came in 2002 and 2003.
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