Minute-by-minute - England vs New Zealand

[Puja]

Minute 45:
May off for Slade - he hasn't looked right today. Instead of going for goal, we go for the jugular with a 5m lineout. We take it well and set a very effective maul. It's creeping forwards, but Retallick is doing an Itoje impression and getting his hands through to the ball, so Youngs decides to play away.

Minute 46:
Youngs does everything right - arcs round the corner, picking the gap between the maul and ALB, chucks a huge dummy towards Tuilagi coming on the crash ball, watches ALB chase it like a labrador after a fake-thrown stick and eases over the line. Classic scrum-half score and just what he deserves for a pretty good game so far. England 15-0 up, soon to be 17-0 up and all is right with the world.

Buuuuuuuttt, Marius Jonker has to offer his tuppence on the matter. For the record, this decision is bullshit. George is in possession of the ball. Retallick is trying to get his hands on it. MakoV is on the verge of taking it off George to get it away from Retallick. All three have their hands on the ball.

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Retallick's questing figures flip the ball out of everyone's hands, towards the NZ side. George juggles and secures the ball against his own leg.

Capture 5.PNG

Now, there are two ways of looking at this. The first is to say that George was in possession of the ball, retains possession of the ball and it neither hits the deck, nor another player. Therefore there is no knock on and the try should stand. The second is to say that Mako was in possession of the ball. It was stripped by Retallick, at which point George is entitled to catch it and play on - the strip means no knock on and no offside. The ball is played away immediately, so there's no offside from carrying the ball back into the maul, and therefore the try should stand.

Jonker takes option 3 of 2, which is to say that England have knocked on, ex-nihilo, and the ball has passed from Mako to George. This is clearly bullshit.

Minute 47:
Anyway, we restart with a NZ scrum. It's solid, played into midfield ALB is brought down by Ford and Farrell. Smith box-kicks, but it's not great and England get a lineout just outside the 22. It's won, but we make a bit of a hash of it in midfield as Ford tries to force a pass to Mako who has overrun. The ball bobbles to NZ hands.

Minute 48:
New Zealand look to go wide, but an execrable pass from Goodhue put BBarrett under pressure and Curry is in over the ball for a turnover. We don't make good use of the ball initially, going swiftly backwards, but Ford goes blind and runs with the ball against a retreating Kiwi defence. Curry takes a nice line off him and powers through three tacklers to get to the edge of the 22. Even better, Underhill is on his shoulder and clears the ruck lightning fast.

First Itoje runs a great line off Youngs to make ground, and then Watson does the same. We have the penalty advantage, but we deserve more, dammit! Ford whips it wide and Slade is running at weak shoulders in the 15m channel.

Minute 49:
The ball slows down and England look to regenerate speed Mako passing out the back and BillyV running hard. It works, but then Youngs spoils everything by passing to a man standing a metre in front of Ford and the loose ball doesn't go to hand. We come back for the penalty.

[Which Tyler]

So far, this thread is more entertaining than Wales Vs South Africa.

Low bar, I know...

It also appears that I need to reassess my love views of Young's and Farrell.
From reading this, it seems that when it wasn't Youngs passing out from the ruck it may have been more a tactic than a failing. Whilst I wasn't seeing Faz doing much, and labelled him injured and anonymous (but brave), it seems that I didn't notice because he was quietly playing IC like an IC - no highlights and no lowlights - so anonymous in a 6/10 way, rather than a 4/10 way.

I look forward to my own rewatch and Raggs's breakdown work.

[Puja]

So far, this thread is more entertaining than Wales Vs South Africa.

Low bar, I know...

It also appears that I need to reassess my love views of Young's and Farrell.
From reading this, it seems that when it wasn't Youngs passing out from the ruck it may have been more a tactic than a failing. Whilst I wasn't seeing Faz doing much, and labelled him injured and anonymous (but brave), it seems that I didn't notice because he was quietly playing IC like an IC - no highlights and no lowlights - so anonymous in a 6/10 way, rather than a 4/10 way.

I look forward to my own rewatch and Raggs's breakdown work.

Thanks for the damning with faint praise Which! I have so far been pleasantly surprised by Youngs, given the opprobium that was being chucked about on the match thread. I've counted three mistakes - two iffy passes and one where he sent Mako back to run a different line instead of hitting him on the burst (and the latter felt more like a tactical decision than a mistake) - and counterbalancing that with some good decision-making, some exquisite long passes off the top of lineouts to get the ball from the front/middle right into midfield, and a nice try which he should definitely have been awarded.

Farrell's been okay. Like you said, 6/10 inside centre stuff, although he has improved so far second half. His main utility has been offering a second point of attack for Ford to play off or to make the decisions when Ford's preparing for the next phase/destroying people in the ruck.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 50:
Ford slots the easy kick and we are 13-0. Should've been 17-0, but hey ho. NZ kick off deep to Watson, which feels like an error as he beats four men to make 10 metres and present the ball. Youngs box-kicks and it's again not brilliant - a little too high and short and England overrun. It works in our favour this time as New Zealand knock it backwards and it falls straight to Itoje. This time Youngs passes back to Ford who leathers it into NZ's 22 to find grass. It bounces well for BBarrett, but he's still faced with a great England chase and has to kick it out for a big net gain to England.

Minute 51:
England lineout on the 10m line and again clean ball. England send Tuilagi on the crash ball off another wide pass from Youngs and then follow that up with BillyV taking it at full pace from Youngs off the ruck. The ball goes wide and Slade stands up Mo'unga and nearly gets round him. The resulting ruck ball is slow however and Itoje gets thumped back in one of the few dominant AB tackles I can remember.

Minute 52:
The forward looking to run and then popping inside works for us again, this time a Billy and Mako combo, and Youngs dinks a kick into space in the 22. He's very unlucky - 9 times out of 10 that rolls into touch, but the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and it pops up off the turf to JBarrett who feeds BBarrett to clear to 30m out. He's not even looking for a counter now, which suggests we've broken his spirit somewhat.

Minute 53:
Jamie George throws in, but the ball has unexpectedly turned into a flock of doves, which explode away to every corner of the stadium to the delight of the crowd.

Okay, not really, but I'm getting kinda bored saying "England do lovely movement, excellent technique, and good timing for a perfect uncontested lineout; Borthwick needs a medal of some sort." There is at least a touch of variety here in that we don't tap down to Youngs, but set a maul which rumbles nicely forward with a couple of rolls round the corner to interest more NZ forwards. Youngs once again does well to pick the perfect moment to get the ball out - there was the possibility of getting a bit more distance out of the maul, but it's better to take it out while it's moving than wait until it's stopped, especially with Read working his way through the middle.

England run my favourite move of fly-half taking it to the line and making the defence choose between Manu running hard and the second fly-half drifting behind, only this time it's Faz as first receiver and Ford lurking behind - maybe an acknowledgement that he's better to spin the wide pass off his left? It works perfectly as Manu draws three Kiwis and gives Ford a 3 on 2. Slade hits the line from 15 and makes exactly the right decision to grubber through as BBarrett charge forward to join the line and try to cut off the pass - it's beautifully weighted and for a second you think Daly's in, but a combination of a lucky bounce and superb covering work with a one-handed take from Reece snatches it away. Incredible defence and he makes it better by popping the ball up to Mo'unga to try and counter.

Mo'unga gets about 3 steps before getting hauled down by Daly. NZ commit to a counter attack, but England's defensive line is well set and they're not going anywhere. Curry is over the ball for an age at one ruck, but doesn't get given the call. It's enough for NZ to want rid, but Mo'unga's clearance doesn't quite clear Underhill and the deflection means it's landing infield.

Minute 54:
Slade counters, but is brought down by Savea who possibly releases before clamping down on the ball. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt cause it's a good turnover as he resists being rucked away by Itoje. NZ get the ball and the advantage, but the attempt to spin it wide fails when BBarrett assumes Coles is 7ft tall when planning his pass. Nobody looks good there - shocking pass from BBarrett, but it was takeable for Coles. The fact that he doesn't play regularly with English scrum-halves shows there - it's bread-and-butter having to catch a pass above your head for any English player. We come back for the penalty and NZ kick well for a lineout just outside our 22.

[Puja]

Minute 55:
Kruis is on for Lawes, who has had an immense match. NZ win the lineout and run a back peel move round which sees Coles round Itoje and Mako - really should have been Mako's man at the back, but he looks knackered. No problem though, Underhill chops him down on the 22m line. NZ run three phases of fast pick-and-goes, but each volley is met with two England defenders and they're going nowhere. It's spread out wide and ALB goes through a tired-looking tackle from Mako - he looks like he's feeling his recent lack of rugby, but I don't believe he's coming off until the 69th minute so he's got to find a second wind from somewhere.

Minute 56:
Farrell's lucky to get away with a headlock on Joe Moody - it's not dangerous as he'd been tackled low and stopped by Kruis already, so it's slow, but it's definitely high. NZ are properly into our 22 now with that burst from ALB and SBW looks to wang it wide. Miiiiistake. Underhill sprints up as the ball leaves Williams's hands and he gets to Read a split-second after the ball with a picture-perfect tackle that could be shown to kids in schools for how to get perfect technique. Read goes from charging onto an attacking ball to being dumped backwards with a net gain of minus 2 metres. Sadly, Underhill can't keep his feet as he gets up to drive over, as that deserved a turnover. Thankfully Nigel takes a sensible approach and doesn't ping him as he falls through the ruck and rolls away NZ's side. Tuilagi has also fallen through to NZ's side, but he's nowhere near the ball and Retallick removes him using his head as a grip anyway. This is fine apparently.

The ball is played away and BBarrett goes for a grubber that is blocked by Farrell. He regathers, but is swatted by Itoje. NZ's attack is looking increasingly ragged as England's defence gets in their faces and, while they're keeping hold of the ball, they're not looking dangerous at all.

I typed that without looking to see what came next and am leaving it as an example of hubris. NZ go wide and SBW comes round on the loop to make the extra man. Daly tackles, but he gives a basketball offload to Reece who is 25m out and has the entire 15m channel to work with. Tuilagi is sprinting across and Reece tries to burn him on the outside, but Manu tracks him and hauls him down 5m from the line, with Slade coming in with the coup-de-gras to make sure he's in touch.

There is a lot of undignified pointing and wailing from NZ players, most notably Perenara. He's been very seagully in general since coming on, but I've seen Stuart Broad appeal for decisions with less gusto than this. I understand that the NZ commentary got their knickers in a twist about this as well and I've seen some Kiwi fans insisting that it was a stone-wall red/yellow card and penalty try that they were robbed of. It's understandable on first viewing as the initial angle does make it look like he's put the shoulder in, but the first replay shows that he's clearly made first contact with his outstretched arm and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it whatsoever. Even if it had been a shoulder, the claims of penalty try are risible given Manu had already started his successful tackle and it's in the ribs so a yellow seems unlikely.

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In short, nothing to see here, move along, let's get to the lineout at which I'm sure absolutely nothing of interest will happen whatsoever...

Minute 57:
Jamie George handily picks out Ardie Savea at the back of the line and there's nothing Underhill or Youngs can do to stop him crashing over. There goes our best shot at nilling New Zealand.

On replay, this is clearly Tom Curry's fault. The call is what an old club of mine used to call Cancel Ball - basically get set and belt the front man up as fast as you can. No subterfuge or guile, just sheer speed of lift. It relies on beating the opposition to the top, so the throw is hard, fast, and aimed for the top of the jumper's reach, as anything else can be stolen. Unfortunately, Curry has screwed up and is facing the wrong way and shouting something at Kruis when Maro begins his jump. He does turn and lift, but by that point Itoje has jumped, Cole has lifted as high as he could as a one-man effort and Curry can do nothing but support. As a result, Itoje is a good foot lower than he should be when George's throw whistles over his hands (and frankly it's testament to both Itoje and Cole that he got as close as he did), and Savea gets the easiest try he will ever score.

Incidentally, Ben Kay shows his worth as a commentator by noticing immediately what went wrong and talking about it. Stuart Barnes would have been chuntering about how George had overthrown and how he should never have overtaken Hartley for the next five minutes.

Minute 58:
Mo'unga slots the conversion and NZ have 7 points for absolutely nothing.

Minute 59:
England kick deep and BBarrett clears under no pressure. England take a while to set at this lineout, understandably, but this one is back to normal service with a bit of movement leading to Curry taking uncontested at the back and popping it off the top to Youngs. I'll stop complaining about typing that now.

[Digby]

I wondered on their try if it was Maro's fault. Itoje is up very early, easily before the ball has left George's hands, which allied to the lifters not being in place means the lift doesn't get him high enough. Certainly the timing went wrong somewhere in the process.

[Gloskarlos]

Thought I had spotted Read pulling someone back off the ball in that line out too, not sure any difference would have been made but a little cynical nonetheless

[Mellsblue]

Ben Kay, I think, said Curry arrived late to lift.

[p/d]

Ben Kay, I think, said Curry arrived late to lift.

I take it you are not reading the minute by minute dialogue

[Puja]

Minute 60:
We send Tuilagi up the middle, who runs right over SBW in a very satisfying fashion. Quick ball and we probe around the edges a couple of times - they're good carries and we're making NZ work, but we're not really getting over the gainline so Ford drops back and puts it into the corner. It's a great kick, landing behind JBarrett on the 5m line and any decent luck would see it go into touch, but once again the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and the ball bounces directly away from the direction of travel and lands neatly into the hands of JBarrett who doesn't even have to break stride.

However, JBarrett may think that this was a case of the bounce hating him - he swings round looking for the counter, steps Slade with ease... only to run straight into a Sam Underhill special. He becomes the second All Black to go instantly from Running-At-Full-Speed to Reversing-At-Full-Underhill in the space of 3 minutes and makes a bad situation worse by trying to offload to someone who then knocks it on. Underhill rubs salt into the wound by driving him back over the dropped ball and England recover possession from the deep pit where JBarrett's confidence once sat.

We go wide left and Daly runs a switch off Manu, but NZ have their cover across well (at a full sprint!) to bring him down 5m from the tryline.

Minute 61:
We go right and left with runners off Youngs, before Cole decides we're going full Exeter - pulls in a supporting man and starts picking and going for the line. He's right - NZ are waiting for the runners off Youngs and he and Kruis make 2m with BillyV and Underhill (Bildervill?) repeating the dose to see us 1m out from the line. Mako and Cole are the next to try and Read is offside on the fringe. Our advantage is signalled and NZ decide that they may as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb to be comedically offside from the next phase. It matters not as Youngs attempts to go wide to Ford to use the advantage, gets his hands mixed up at the base, and sends a rubbish pass to Ford's shoes which is promptly dropped. We go back for a penalty in front of the posts.

Minute 62:
Nothing much occurs, except for replays of Underhill's tackling technique which quite frankly can be replayed as many times at they like because it's gorgeous.

Minute 63:
Ford slots the easy three and England are once again 2 scores clear. Every England fan breathes a sigh of relief. In cricket, they say that you should always imagine what the score would be like with two more wickets taken as it's so easy to lose two quick ones. I don't think I'm alone in being an England fan who looks at big leads against New Zealand with the thought in my head of how things will stand when they score 14 points from nowhere. 2002, 2012, 2014, 2018 - you think you're comfortable and then suddenly, wham, wham, and you're under your posts wondering where your lead went. It's 16-7 now, so we could recover from 16-21 - it is doable to still win from there.

Heinz replaces Youngs and, while that last one does bring him up to 3 clear errors for the match, I think he was underrated for the good things that he did.

NZ kick deep and Watson takes it under pressure from JBarrett. We set and Underhill carries up.

Minute 64:
Another phase to get into position and Heinz box-kicks. It's a nice one and you'd say Farrell was favourite to be under it if he wasn't cynically taken out by Read. It's nice and subtle though - took me three replays to spot how it happened - so I'm calling that expert skullduggery and moving on. Watson makes a real nuisance of himself in the air though and NZ are lucky to get a knock-on called. They attempt to use the advantage, but Watson takes ALB into touch and we go back for the scrum.

[Mellsblue]

Ben Kay, I think, said Curry arrived late to lift.

I take you are not reading the minute by minute dialogue

Is the pope catholic? Is Itoje a natural no8?

[Puja]

I wondered on their try if it was Maro's fault. Itoje is up very early, easily before the ball has left George's hands, which allied to the lifters not being in place means the lift doesn't get him high enough. Certainly the timing went wrong somewhere in the process.

Itoje is up early, but it's a deliberate call that would've been decided before going in to the lineout. It's aiming to beat them for speed, rather than with footwork and either Curry doesn't know it's happening or he needs shooting for taking his mind off his job as that move goes off Itoje's decision and everyone else's job is to be ready to go with him.

Puja

[p/d]

Ben Kay, I think, said Curry arrived late to lift.

I take you are not reading the minute by minute dialogue

Is the pope catholic? Is Itoje a natural no8?

Itoje at 8. That would be my new screensaver

[Digby]

I wondered on their try if it was Maro's fault. Itoje is up very early, easily before the ball has left George's hands, which allied to the lifters not being in place means the lift doesn't get him high enough. Certainly the timing went wrong somewhere in the process.

Itoje is up early, but it's a deliberate call that would've been decided before going in to the lineout. It's aiming to beat them for speed, rather than with footwork and either Curry doesn't know it's happening or he needs shooting for taking his mind off his job as that move goes off Itoje's decision and everyone else's job is to be ready to go with him.

Puja

That's very likely. But maybe Curry is supposed to be looking the other way for some period there and Itoje has gone a little quickly, you can beat them up at the front without jumping that much earlier than the ball coming in, and I'd prefer them not to bet the ref isn't going to ping them that close to the try line. Unless the players sit down as a group and thrash it out in public we're unlikely to know, at least for sure, it might even be a cunning plan that works fine in training but didn't allow for quite so much noise in the stadium depending on what the triggers are

[Puja]

I wondered on their try if it was Maro's fault. Itoje is up very early, easily before the ball has left George's hands, which allied to the lifters not being in place means the lift doesn't get him high enough. Certainly the timing went wrong somewhere in the process.

Itoje is up early, but it's a deliberate call that would've been decided before going in to the lineout. It's aiming to beat them for speed, rather than with footwork and either Curry doesn't know it's happening or he needs shooting for taking his mind off his job as that move goes off Itoje's decision and everyone else's job is to be ready to go with him.

Puja

That's very likely. But maybe Curry is supposed to be looking the other way for some period there and Itoje has gone a little quickly, you can beat them up at the front without jumping that much earlier than the ball coming in, and I'd prefer them not to bet the ref isn't going to ping them that close to the try line. Unless the players sit down as a group and thrash it out in public we're unlikely to know, at least for sure, it might even be a cunning plan that works fine in training but didn't allow for quite so much noise in the stadium depending on what the triggers are

I get what you're saying, but with that move the trigger is always Itoje's jump. There is no early or late there - the lifters and George's throw go solely on Itoje's timing as he is judging when NZ aren't ready. Technically you are right that you can be pinged for jumping before the ball is in, but it isn't physically possible to run front ball with the jumper staying on the ground till the ball leaves the hooker's hands (not without an outrageous loop!) and it's a law that hasn't been called since lifting was allowed.

On replay, I suspect that Curry has not heard the call and is getting it confirmed by Kruis to make sure he doesn't screw up, which is the very definition of irony.

Puja

[Digby]

Would you happen to know how often each team kicked down which touchline?

[Puja]

Minute 65:
Perenara breaks blind from the scrum and Curry is slow to get off the base and then slips when he does, leaving NZ with a 3-on-2 and space to play. Frankly, we're lucky to get off as lightly as we do - Heinz resists the temptation to step in and make it a 2-on-1 and he offers Perenara the inside which he doesn't take. I think Ford would have had him covered anyway, but it would've been a lot of metres lost. Instead, Perenara passes and makes it a 2-on-2. We lose ground, but bring it down just inside our 22. Heinz then competes at the breakdown to slow the ball for another second and that gives us time to realign our defence.

We use it well - the ball is wanged back deep to SBW and again he throws a pass that sees a Kiwi forward receive man and ball! Has he got some kind of grudge against the pack? It's not strictly his fault on either occasion - both times, an England player has read where the ball is going and sprinted up to level someone. This time it's Manu on Retallick and it's a beauty - not quite as technically perfect as Underhill's, but with a bit more pace and power behind it. Both Retallick and the ball go backwards. It was a necessary smash as well - if Manu didn't get there, then NZ had three players vs Daly with half the pitch to work with.

Curry is quick up on SBW as he gathers the loose ball and suddenly England are moving forward as a defensive line again. NZ try to regain momentum, but they're getting marched backwards around half a metre each phase and it culminates in Perenara doing a three-step-and-pass routine which gives Itoje the opportunity to race out of the line and nail Whitelock man and ball. It's a free hit, cause it's only ever going to Whitelock and Perenara's fannying about has given Maro a 2 stride headstart before the ball leaves his hands.

Minute 66:
New Zealand are now back on the halfway line, having gone backwards 30 metres in under a minute of "attacking". Barrett decides to kick and the rugby ball loves him because it kicks on towards our tryline instead of bouncing up like it does for New Zealand. Bastard biased balls. Slade has it covered, but tries to beat the one-man chaser Reece rather than using Daly inside him, and his footing goes out from under him on the greasy turf.

We could be in trouble here as Retallick comes in and Reece goes for the jackal, but Retallick overruns and misses the ruck entirely and Reece flops on top of Slade and gyrates like he's playing rugby league. Daly gratefully secures the ruck and we get our forwards back behind the ball. Heinz doesn't box under pressure, but instead goes back to Ford who finds a long touch. It's not far enough out of the pitch though and BBarrett takes a quick lineout for NZ to go wide. Some ropey passing slows them down and Watson is up to pressure ALB as he receives. ALB flings it a good metre forward to Read. Read lunges forward and somehow drags it back in, but even this clue isn't enough for the touch judge, who is right there, to give the blatant forward pass.

Regardless, NZ are now up to our 22 and spin it wide to the other side of the pitch where Reece is waiting in a bit of space. Unfortunately, the middle man is the replacement tighthead and he shows why he did not play youth rugby at fly-half by hoiking the massive miss-pass a good 5m behind Reece. On the bright side, at least that pass definitely wasn't forwards.

Minute 67:
Reece does gather the ball in, but is a little bit deprived of momentum and his dancing doesn't get him past Daly. Tuilagi comes in to try and strip the ball and looks like he's done a good job, but Nigel rather harshly says that the tackle was completed and it was playing the ball on the floor, so penalty New Zealand. It seems a very iffy call, but it's irrelevant anyway as Whitelock reacts to Farrell trying to secure the loose ball with a shove followed by an open handed strike to Farrell's forehead. Now, it's important to note that a) Farrell was being deliberately annoying in trying to claim the ball after the whistle had gone and b) that Farrell goes down faster than a championship porn star in a speed blowjob competition and then proceeds to scream and roll around like he's been shot. He is being a complete footballer and, if I were Nigel, I would've been tempted to insist that he went off for an HIA and the mandatory 13 minute sitdown, in order to deal with the grievous injury that he's clearly suffered. It's an utter embarrassment.

That aside, it is a deliberate strike to the face, which is quite a bit more than the "push" that Owens describes it as. It is open-handed (what we used to call a spam when I were a lad), but that's surely a yellow card, no? It's a sign that NZ are fraying at the edges though - it's completely unnecessary and turns from a NZ penalty that could lead to a 5m lineout/3 points to an England penalty and a chance to get out of our half for the first time in nearly 5 minutes. It's no surprise that Whitelock is given the shepherd's crook immediately after this - quite apart from punishing the immediate idiocy, he's clearly starting to lose the plot and he's actually quite lucky not to give up 10m for having a chunter to Nige about the unfairness of it.

Farrell is miraculously healed by the award of the penalty and England kick to touch on NZ's 10m line. It's not an ambitious kick from Ford, but I suppose safety is the order of the day after the last 5 minutes.

Minute 68:
We very nearly screw up the lineout - dance to the front, dance to the back, dance back to the middle where Retallick and his lifting pod are, and just about get the ball under pressure. Maybe a better read of the situation needed there. If you were being picky, you'd note that Retallick is launched across the line there (actually landing at the back of our nascent maul!), but we've got the ball so not worth quibbling about.

We set up the maul and sucker in three Kiwis to hit where we landed before shifting right and rolling forwards. We've got the bulk of our pack marching merrily past where the bulk of their pack have gone and Retallick ends up grabbing at the back man to try and pull it down as he flies past. He does enough to slow it and earn us the penalty advantage.

Heinz plays away to Farrell who accelerates into contact and makes a few yards. Itoje goes next and then England swing it left through Farrell and BillyV is going down the wing with Daly outside him. Billy goes himself and is caught by Savea covering. Savea does excellently to bounce back to his feet and then ruck George away who has come in to support, but the quality of the counter-ruck is spoiled somewhat by Savea randomly shouting, "BWAAAHAARRRRGHHH!!! RAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" at the top of his voice as he drives George over. It's bizarre, I can't see who it benefits (certainly not Savea's dignity), and I've seen that given as a penalty before as contrary to good sportsmanship. Weird.

It's not relevant anyway, Nige is coming back for the penalty from the maul and Ford gets a chance at goal. Nigel gives Kieran Read his team's second final warning for a yellow card for repeated infringements. I will spoil the ending for you - New Zealand do not get a yellow card this game.

Minute 69:
Ford slots it from 44m out and on the left hand side. Somewhere in a BBC studio, Matt Dawson is trying to work out how he can spin this that Ford is flaky in big games and should not be trusted.

[Puja]

Would you happen to know how often each team kicked down which touchline?

Hah! You'll be lucky. I'm not quite that anally-retentive, although it's close. I don't recall there being any real preference shown by either side, although I wasn't looking. How come?

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 70:
We make a raft of changes: Wilson for Underhill, Marler for Mako, and LCD for George. Only Joseph is still left on the bench.

NZ kick short and I think it's Tuipulotu who does a phenomenal job, leaping through a thicket of England shirts, rising high to palm the ball firmly back to his side. It goes entirely underappreciated as not a single Kiwi collects the ball and the ball bounces nicely for Tom Curry to collect. The ball goes back to Ford who kicks long downfield to find the gap between the Barretts - we're owed a reasonable bounce of the ball and this one does go true, kicking on away from Beauden's outstretched hand and stopping just short of the tryline. BBBarrett does eventually field and kick long, but Ford gathers on the edge of our 22 and starts running forwards.

Minute 71:
Ford launches it high, but that's a little too long and Reece gathers without any challenge. However a good chase makes up for a bad kick and Reece is faced with a wall of white as he looks to dance.

New Zealand run through some phases while going backwards and it looks like it's under control, but England get a bit narrow and have BillyV on the edge of the line as Reece gets the ball with Coles outside him. Daly comes up to provide support and it is a 2-on-2, but Daly's got one eye on Coles and leaves Billy with too much to do, especially since he looks utterly knackered. Daly hares back and snares Reece, but he offloads inside to Perenara who draws the man and passes wide to Coles on the sprint. I start working out whether we can come back from conceding two quick tries in the last 10 minutes and whether we'd have the strength to recover from going 19-21 down.

However, my saviour is (as always) George Ford, who has swept across to cover 15. Coles gives him the in-and-out, breaking for the outside and handing off in his throat, but Ford's got hold of his shirt and won't be handed off, dragging him to ground just shy of the touchline. Even better, Wilson is there and straight over the ball to earn a penalty - a pedant might note that he's more diagonal entry that strictly from our side, but it'd be a harsh ref to ping that.

Minute 72:
Ford recovers from saving me from apoplexy to kick the penalty down to our 10m line. LCD follows in George's footsteps with a nice throw to the back and England set another aggressive maul that rolls NZ back 15m before getting bogged down. A note on the effect that Youngs had this match - twice he got the ball out of rolling mauls while they were still moving, just before they petered out, so that the backs could have ball against a retreating defence. Heinz waits till we've stopped and then the only option is the box-kick.

Minute 73:
Reece takes the box-kick well, albeit with some shepherding help from Perenara and Cane to keep Daly and Curry off him respectively. Curry still manages to scrag him, but it's a bit of a mess and he gets trapped on the wrong side and gives away a penalty. Nothing much to be done there - that was just something that happened and bad luck to end up pinning the ball in.

Perenara taps and goes and runs amidst the England forwards who are all retreating and doing very well to avoid the temptation to hit him. Unfortunately for TJ however, he has not been counting steps and George Kruis has, so he's taken somewhat unawares when Kruis reaches 10m back from the penalty award and stops dead so that Perenara bounces off his chest. Long arms come around to wrap and the quick ball is dead.

NZ recycle though and go wide to find some room - Manu has charged up to put pressure on the pass and has to backpedal quickly to avoid a dog-leg. They're moving fowards, but are quickly stopped again as the next phase sees Cane try to run through Marler who chops him down with a lovely low tackle. England are realigned again now and the aggressive press comes on once more. New Zealand get away with an offload once, but the next phase sees BBarrett taking a second to think what he wants to do and getting scragged by Kruis 8m behind the gainline. Cole is in to compete, BBarrett chucks it back in panic and suddenly NZ have lost another 5m and Jordie is becoming the next Barrett scragged behind the gainline by Kruis.

Minute 74:
Savea makes a phenomenal run, powering through Kruis, before carrying into Farrell's bearhug tackle. Savea is once again giving it a loud, "GWAAAARGGGH" as he goes into Farrell, so maybe it's his kiai or some sort of mid-game haka that he taps into. Whatever's going on, it looks much stupider as Farrell holds him long enough for BillyV to join in and usher him into touch. I think you only really get to scream battlecries if you're going to win. I'm pretty sure Farrell has an amusing word with him as they pick themselves up off the floor - certainly he's got a grin on his face and Dane Coles feels it necessary to give him a shove afterwards.

Manu is off for Joseph and that's the bench emptied. Incredibly, I remember thinking that that was a wise choice, as Joseph is the strongest defensive centre we have and we needed him to make sure NZ didn't come back and score >12 points in the last 6 minutes. That is how badly the All Blacks have scarred my psyche since I started watching the sport in 1995.

LCD again hits double top with his lineout and NZ sack the maul before it can be formed. That leaves a nice long ruck for Heinz to box-kick from, which he does with aplomb. NZ clearly have been practicing for box-kicks as two players now deliberately shepherd Daly away from chasing that. It's well done - just subtle enough to not get pinged, but blatant enough that Daly's not been allowed near a single landing zone.

[Puja]

Minute 75:
Reece doesn't gather cleanly, but it does go backwards. Ford is on the loose ball, but it's a difficult pickup and he just fumbles it forwards. The scrum is set quickly. England get the nudge, but NZ get the ball away and swing it wide.

Minute 76:
ALB makes ground through dragging Farrell, but he brings him down in the end. NZ sweep the other way, but England are up and pressing hard, forcing them back under pressure. They've lost 10 metres by the time Barrett decides to go for the chip over the top instead. The ball bounces well for Heinz on the sweep and he beats the onrushing Mo'unga to arc round to the right. He draws the last man and pops to Watson - if Underhill could be used in a tackling manual, that could be used to illustrate draw-and-give.

Watson beats two and is eventually brought down about 30m out. Joseph and Wilson clear over the top and first Tuipulotu and then Taavao-Matau think it's out and try to claim it. The latter goes too far and Nigel gives England the penalty. I do have a lot of sympathy here, as I'd say the ball is indeed out at one point before Wilson readjusts his feet to keep them behind the ball. However, Nigel shouts "No!" to Tuipulotu, so for Taavao-Matau to then come in and try to take it seems like gross stupidity. It looked out to me, but it's only out if the ref agrees with you.

England play with the advantage and make ground as Ford runs with the ball, waits for NZ to bite in, and then pops to Cole on his shoulder.

Minute 77:
England go wide right and Watson makes ground again before being hauled down just 7m out. LCD carries up next and we get a spectacular piece of Nigel communication - Perenara is in as second man and has a first go at the ball, to which Nigel shouts, "That's a ruck!" He then has another go at the ball, so Nige shouts "Hands away!" Perenara has one last go and reefs the ball back to the NZ side, at which point Nige blows his whistle and says, "No advantage, going back for the original penalty" which is 20m further back and 5m closer to the touchline. Weird.

George opts for the posts and I'm thinking, with under three minutes to go and a 12 point lead, that I'm glad we're kicking because 3 points would make it more than two tries and that would make me feel better. With under 3 minutes to go and one of those guaranteed to be taken up with a penalty kick! Ridiculous.

Minute 78:
Nige announces to Ford that he's only got a minute and that the kick has to be taken by the time the clock reaches 78:00. This marks the first time in this RWC where that law has actually been applied. George uses almost every second, but his kick just slides wide. I look at the clock and start to think that maybe, maybe, we might be safe. However, BBarrett hasn't grounded the ball and is just running...

Minute 79:
BBarrett's caught everyone unawares and there are a few English players who have got ready for the 22 drop-out who are having to scramble. He reaches the 10m line and tries to round Curry, but the youngster wraps his legs well and brings him down. The offload goes to Perenara who sends a controversially "flat" pass out to SBW. Not to be outdone, SBW reaches through a tackle and offloads a good two metres forward to ALB on his shoulder - that pass actually went further forwards than it did sideways. The touch judge is closer to that pass than it went forwards - nothing given.

NZ are flinging it about 7s style, going sideways a lot and never forwards. The English press keeps advancing and driving them back. Finally, there's one hail-mary too many - Reece is nearly driven into touch and flings inside to BBarrett who is nearly driven into to touch as he flings inside to... Billy Vunipola.

England recycle and the ball is chucked to Dan Cole at first receiver. We do have an overlap, but New Zealand are hurtling up looking for the intercept and we have two things that are more important than an overlap: a twelve point lead and less than 90 seconds to go. Cole turns back inside to find other forwards and slightly less agoraphobic spaces.

[Puja]

Minute 80:
England are time-wasting here - one-out runners with the clearing squad already bound to them. However, NZ rush one of the rucks and drive through and over the ball to win the turnover. They attack wide and make ground deep into England's half, but a wild SBW offload sees them retreat under pressure and go back up to the halfway line. The gong goes...

Minute 81:
Marler charges up on JBarrett who chucks an offload forwards just to get rid of it, but it's not spotted by the ref. Wilson is then over the ball but told to release by Nige. Everyone on the England side wants to be the one that ends it, but it's very nearly Mo'unga who does it with a wild pass to the floor that he's lucky doesn't go into touch. NZ recover and SBW attacks the gaps between Cole and Marler - they come together and crunch him between them. The ball spills backwards and then is passed backwards and passed backwards again - New Zealand are back to their own 22 and still the England defensive line marches forwards.

Savea takes control of the ball and powers through a Joseph tackle. Sadly, the ref's mike is not close enough to hear whether that's enough to trigger his battle-cry, but I really hope it is as his next contact is with a meaty tackle from Marler that dislodges the ball forwards. It pops into Cole's hands, he passes to Farrell who kicks it out with a catharti... wait, has that even made touch? The camera has gone up to see the crowd and zoom in on scenes of celebration, and only belatedly swings back down as the director realises that the game isn't actually over yet. Farrell has spooned the kick badly and it's worked out perfectly as a cross-kick for JBarrett! Watson is there to tackle him thankfully, but Nigel is calling us back for no advantage from the knock-on by Savea, and the end of the game. Farcical ending, but we can laugh because we've won. We're in the RWC final!

BWAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHH!!! RAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

Puja

[Digby]

Would you happen to know how often each team kicked down which touchline?

Hah! You'll be lucky. I'm not quite that anally-retentive, although it's close. I don't recall there being any real preference shown by either side, although I wasn't looking. How come?

Puja

I'm under the impression a lot of play went down our left (so May and Reece being targeted). Possibly a false impression, and I haven't watched the game back. If true I assume they tried to pick on an injured May, else I'm not seeing a reason to play to him, maybe Mo-unga just tends to kick to his outside and I don't know Mo'unga very well, and I'd assume we think Reece makes iffy decisions, but it could easily be nothing.

[Which Tyler]

Heinz replaces Youngs and, while that last one does bring him up to 3 clear errors for the match, I think he was underrated for the good things that he did.

I don't recall you mentioning it - His biggest stand-out error for me was at some point in the second half; NZ clearance kick to somewhere around half way - Slade picks up and runs, passes Youngs who's walking slowly the opposite direction; gets tackled just behind Youngs' back, and he's terribly, terribly slow to realise or do anything about it.
There are times when a SH as the nearest player, simply has to support the tackled player, and let someone else get the ball back - and that was one of them, only he was looking in completely the wrong direction. It's the only time I remember actively shouting at the telly.
The rest of the criticisms of Youngs were that we was slow to arrive at the rucks (rather than outright mistakes), and often didn't as someone else decided to do his job for him - again, you've not really mentioned those, which makes me suspect that it was tactical to share the duty in order to put speed on the ball (which is something I love about the French style 9.5s - when they get it working), rather than Youngs just being slow.

I need to do my rewatch to check this stuff.

[Digby]

Would you happen to know how often each team kicked down which touchline?

Hah! You'll be lucky. I'm not quite that anally-retentive, although it's close. I don't recall there being any real preference shown by either side, although I wasn't looking. How come?

Puja

I'm under the impression a lot of play went down our left (so May and Reece being targeted). Possibly a false impression, and I haven't watched the game back. If true I assume they tried to pick on an injured May, else I'm not seeing a reason to play to him, maybe Mo-unga just tends to kick to his outside and I don't know Mo'unga very well, and I'd assume we think Reece makes iffy decisions, but it could easily be nothing.

Just into the second half, and May has gone off now.

England have actually kicked more to Bridge (or down our right) when they've elected to punt down a touchline and the ball stays in, NZ when doing similarly have only kicked to May. I wonder if I thought they'd kicked to Reece more as he's doing odder things with the ball inviting pressure onto NZ, he's not going to be signed by Sarries with those exit plays, and I wonder if NZ recall the last time they paid attention to England that May was suspect in the air and they've not noticed the last 4-5 seasons. Or maybe it's just all one of those things

I wonder too if I watch the rest of the game given Reece looks as much a space cadet as May if Ford starts to kick more to him

[Puja]

Hah! You'll be lucky. I'm not quite that anally-retentive, although it's close. I don't recall there being any real preference shown by either side, although I wasn't looking. How come?

Puja

I'm under the impression a lot of play went down our left (so May and Reece being targeted). Possibly a false impression, and I haven't watched the game back. If true I assume they tried to pick on an injured May, else I'm not seeing a reason to play to him, maybe Mo-unga just tends to kick to his outside and I don't know Mo'unga very well, and I'd assume we think Reece makes iffy decisions, but it could easily be nothing.

Just into the second half, and May has gone off now.

England have actually kicked more to Bridge (or down our right) when they've elected to punt down a touchline and the ball stays in, NZ when doing similarly have only kicked to May. I wonder if I thought they'd kicked to Reece more as he's doing odder things with the ball inviting pressure onto NZ, he's not going to be signed by Sarries with those exit plays, and I wonder if NZ recall the last time they paid attention to England that May was suspect in the air and they've not noticed the last 4-5 seasons. Or maybe it's just all one of those things

I wonder too if I watch the rest of the game given Reece looks as much a space cadet as May if Ford starts to kick more to him

Reece does noticeably field more ball in the second half, IIRC.

Puja