New Zealand v England: live

58 mins Barrett great run. The try looked on with Fekitoa and Nonu in

suppoort, but England hold on. Electric pace from Barrett and great support

play…could have really been something if the pass was not

forward….reserves coming on now…..let’s hope the game doesn’t lose its

structure.

56 mins England look as if they had got it clear but a horrible

hospital pass is delivered from Dylan Hartley, and all a furious Chris

Ashton can do to the spinning, grounded ball is kick it out in frustration.

55 mins New Zealand turn down the chance to kick for the posts. They

want to finish England off here, to put the stamp on this spell of concerted

pressure.

54 mins Barrett also prominent as the All Blacks lay siege. Wave after

wave of attack, like rugby league.

52 mins England cannot maintain the pressure, though, with errors

creeping in again. Woodcock, Smith and McCaw re-establishing the natural

order we saw in the first half as they power forward.

48 mins Another great run, this time from Ben Youngs. And New Zealand

getting a bit edgy, until Tom Wood loses the ball.

44 mins Yarde really going for it now, surging run. England have come

out determined to make amends. Looks as if Stuart Lancaster had severe words

at the break.

43 mins Ben Youngs great pass, Manu Tuilagi nearly pushes over, and

Marland Yarde makes up for his defensive errors by scoring his fourth try

for England, and his second of the series after he struck in Dunedin. Burns

kicks over. Beauden Barrett comes on to replace Aardon Cruden at fly-half.

09:31 The second half gets underway.

England’s Tom Johnson I am just gutted for the boys. I know they are

going to try and sort it out but I think they will be calm; they know how to

fix it. We have slipped off a cople of tackles.

09:27 England started the match badly and could never get a grip in the

slippery conditions. Tom Wood and Chris Robshaw have battled hard but the

defence in general looks so vulnerable. Telegraph columnist Will Greenwood

says this is all about damage-limitation now.

Riki Flutey

1st phase the All Blacks are committing Eastmond Tuilagi in the tackle, creating quick ruck ball catching the English short in D numbers.

— Riki Flutey (@rikiflutey) June 21, 2014

39 mins the half-time whistle will come as a blessed relief for England

Aaron Smith a second try. The first two were down the left flank. For fun, New

Zealand have now switched to the right flank to tear shellshocked England

apart. Cruden again converts. Joe Launchbury returns after his blood injury

has been treated.

33 mins Robshaw again to the rescue. The skipper trying to stop this

becoming a rout.

30 mins Robshaw, Burns and Parling try to launch a fightback, but it

comes to nothing. It’s a very one-sided contest I am afraid to report.

Vunipola prepares to come on, looks extremely frustrated.

29 mins England’s tour looks as if it is going to end on a flat note.

Aaron Smith eighth try for New Zealand… though it’s being checked to see it

wasn’t a forwrad pass. No sign of anythng wrong with that. New Zealand make

it 20-6. Marland Yarde’s tackle on Cory Jane not good enough. England

are not tackling well enough as a team. Cruden gets the kick.

27 mins Mike Brown nearly costs England another try, left isolated. Joe

Launchbury comes on for the injured Dave Attwood.

Mark Geddes High tackle for sure, but these refs are ruining games with

yellow cards for that stuff!

24 mins Billy Vunipola sent to sin-bin for high tackle on Cruden.

Saracens No 8′s first start of the series is marred. Then Dane Coles goes on

a run down that troublesome left touchline (as England attack). He tries to

pass back inside but straight into Chris Ashton. Already the All Blacks

finding even more space.

Penalty chance for Burns, and he does it. Just about keeps England in it. He

won the penalty with a clever chip. New Zealand 15 England 6

Comfortable penalty for Cruden. This Test is not going to be tight like the

first two, it seems. New Zealand 15 England 3

15 mins Nearly Savea’s hat-trick. England being pulled apart. Big drive

from the All Black forwards, little looped ball, a pass and Savea dives in

… but the pass went forward.

11 mins We had a clue from the intensity of the Haka that the All

Blacks were fired up for this. They have more to play for really, as they

will not want to surrender that amazing home record. But this is a nightmare

start for England.

Majestic play again from All Blacks and Julian Savea again! And Cruden makes

no mistake this time. Eastmond got sucked in, the tourists are defending

very narrowly and the hosts are picking their spots. Absolutely clinical

stuff. New Zealand 12 England 3

New Zealand making mistakes as well, though. Easy offside decision, England

have a penalty, Burns can have another go. And he kicks it over! New

Zealand 5 England 3

Julian Savea, 21st try (in 22 games) for New Zealand, and his sixth versus

England. Aaron Smith set up, wriggling free and setting Savea off with a

lovely one-handed pass. Aaron Cruden misses the conversion, however. England

punished for a nervy start on a slippery surface. New Zealand 5 England 0

2 mins Burns pushes to the left of the posts, so a nervy man for the

Leicester Tigers fly-half who kicked 12 points in the first Test.

1 min Poor kick-off from Burns, but it England’s forwards rescue him,

and they have a kickable penalty…

New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen speaking on Sky Sports: “I don’t

think it’s a dead rubber. We are expected to win every game and England will

be looking to end on a high note.”

8:31 The national anthems. Both teams look up for it, of course, but it

will interesting to see if the All Blacks can maintain their focus in

defence of that amazing home record, and England can preserve their hunger,

and avoid the handling errors that crept into their game in Dunedin.

Mark Geddes (New Zealand fan) It may be a dead rubber but opportunities

for many.. It’s the first time McCaw, Kaino and Read have played a Test

together since a certain 8-7 win over France in 2011 that won the Webb Ellis

Trophy. A chance too for Freddie Burns, he showed a lot in the first Test

and was unfortunate not to start the second. He asked plenty of questions of

the All Blacks and ran the back line well. He’s yet another sign of the

increasing depth of English Rugby. Many Kiwis hadn’t heard of some of the

Premiership players in the starting line-up for England in the first Test,

but they did not disappoint and pushed NZ all the way… A start too for the

block-busting Highlanders centre, not wanted up north, Fekitoa, He has found

a home with the Highlanders and has not looked back, starting today though

will be his biggest test. Good to see Chris Ashton back in the run on side

too.

8:25 The players are emerging, with England seeing if they can just go

that yard further this time

8:10 Consolation games for England are all the rage. While the football

team have to go through the motions against Costa Rica, the rugby team will

be looking to pull a Test back against the All Blacks at the Waikato Stadium

in Hamilton this morning (kick-off 8.35am).

As close as England came in the first and second Tests at Eden Park, Auckland,

and Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, an away win will be a tall order.

For it to happen, England must deny New Zealand a 17th straight win – a run

going back to December 2012, at Twickenham, when the hosts won 38-21.

They must inflict a first home defeat on New Zealand since South Africa won in

September 2009. England’s last win in New Zealand, meanwhile, was at

Wellington in June 2003, a 15-13 triumph.

About as close as the opening two Tests of this series, Conrad Smith’s

78th-minute try won the first Test for the hosts 20-15 (England’s Marland

Yarde was in the sinbin at the time). After that match people were

questioning whether the All Blacks were losing their aura.

But they still won the second Test 28-27 despite trailing 10-3 at half-time,

with late tries from Mike Brown and Chris Ashton giving the scoreline some

gloss for the tourists.

Line-ups

New Zealand: 15) Ben Smith, 14) Cory Jane, 13) Malakai Fekitoa, 12)

Ma’a Nonu, 11) Julian Savea, 10) Aaron Cruden, 9) Aaron Smith, 8) Kieran

Read, 7) Richie McCaw (capt), 6) Jerome Kaindo, 5) Samuel Whitelock, 4)

Brodie Retallick, 3) Owen Franks, 2) Dane Coles, 1) Tony Woodcock. Replacements:
16) Keven Mealamu, 17) Wyatt Crockett, 18) Charlie Faumina, 19) Patrick

Tuipulotu, 20) Liam Messam, 21) TJ Perenara, 22) Beauden Barrett, 23) Ryan

Crotty.

England: 15) Mike Brown, 14) Chris Ashton, 13) Manu Tuilagi, 12) Kyle

Eastmond, 11) Marland Yarde, 10) Freddie Burns, 9) Ben Youngs, 8) Billy

Vunipola, 7) Chris Robshaw (capt), 6) Tom Wood, 5) Geoff Parling, 4)

Courtney Lawes, 3) David Wilson, 2) Dylan Hartley, 1) Joe Marler. Replacements:
16) Rob Webber, 17) Matt Mullan, 18) Kieran Brookes, 19) Joe Launchbury,

20) Ben Morgan, 21) Lee Dickson, 22) Danny Cipriani, 23) Luther Burrell.

05.00 Morning all and welcome to our liveblog from England’s third and

final Test against New Zealand as Stuart Lancaster’s side look to avoid a

whitewash.

Huw Turbervill will be here from 7.30am, but in the meantime here’s a

quick preview of what’s in store …

The All Blacks are wondering what England will have to offer for Saturday’s

third Test in Hamilton as they look to crush the tourists’ confidence ahead

of next year’s World Cup.

It’s a dead rubber that still carries highly motivational elements for both

sides, with the All Blacks looking to equal the world record of 17

consecutive Test victories, and England desperate to leave New Zealand with

a win.

Although the All Blacks were down on the level of performance they aspire to

in winning the first two Tests, it was still enough to beat a team that was

ahead in both matches at half-time.

England favoured a solid set-piece and kick-chase game in the first Test and

attempted to attack out wide in the second, but neither of coach Stuart

Lancaster’s plans worked.

“So what are they going to do now?” All Blacks coach Steve Hansen

wondered.

“I have heard Stuart say in the paper that they shouldn’t play too much

rugby down their end. So are they going to kick it a wee bit more?”

The All Blacks’ game plan has not varied, with an emphasis on moving the ball

at pace and always looking for counter-attacking opportunities.

Only a couple of injury-forced changes have been made to give the team a

solid, familiar look.

England, however, made five changes for the second Test and, with the late

withdrawal of lock Geoff Parling, eight for the third in a wide-reaching

search for the elusive win.

In a last throw of the dice to avoid a 3-0 whitewash, Lancaster was giving

little away ahead of the match other than talking up England’s rush defence

as “clearly part of our armoury and we’ll obvious try to shut the space

down.”

England assistant coach Andy Farrell added that their motivation was to end

the season on a high and to do that they need to ensure the All Blacks “can’t

play at the pace that they want to play”.

Kyle Eastmond and Manu Tuilagi have been reunited in the centre of a rejigged

England backline and will test All Blacks rookie Malakai Fekitoa in his

first Test start.

Big backrower Billy Vunipola, lock Courtney Lawes and New Zealand-born hooker

Dylan Hartley have been added to bolster England’s pack.

The return of backrower Kieran Read should strengthen the All Blacks’ running

game with his talent for lingering out wide to create opportunities for his

wings.

This leaves the powerful Jerome Kaino, back in his familiar blindside role,

free to mop up any problems that may arise close to the ruck.

After inconsistent performances in the first two weeks, in which the third

quarter of the second Test was the only time the All Blacks were in total

control, captain Richie McCaw said they wanted a complete performance in

Hamilton.

“It would be horrible to go away from this three-match series saying

‘Yeah, we won it but haven’t performed in that last one’. That’s what the

driver is,” McCaw said.

“We showed in that 20 minutes (of the second Test) when we started to

believe in what we’re doing more, and it started to happen, it shows the

skills and the guys showed what they can do. It would be nice to do that for

longer.”

Article source: http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/match_report/0,,11069_62695_1,00.html

New Zealand v England: live