Until Brown scored England’s second try with eight to go they were 15 points down, the sort of deficit New Zealand tend to extend. It took a phenomenal effort of spirit, will and skill for England instead almost to eradicate it.
It is scant consolation, in fact hardly any at all. “Once you give a team like the All Blacks a sniff, they grow in stature and keep coming wave after wave,” said the plain-spoken Tom Wood.
“We can talk about the character and positives to come out of us weathering the storm and coming back at them, but it was too late in the day.
“A lot of the credit goes to them but a lot of the blame lies with us. We left the door ajar and they kicked it down. Frankly it just wasn’t good enough.”
England consider themselves World Cup contenders but, with Saturday’s Hamilton Test remaining, Wood and his comrades can see plainly enough that, compared with New Zealand of no one else, they remain outsiders.
NEW ZEALAND – Tries:Â B Smith, Savea, Nonu. Cons: Cruden, Barrett. Pens: Cruden (2), Barrett.
ENGLAND – Tries:Â Yarde, Brown, Ashton. Cons: Farrell (3). Pens: Farrell (2).
Article source: http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/ireland-huff-and-puff-their-way-to-victory-over-argentina-1.1833031
Plenty of room for improvement before England"s Rugby World Cup challenge
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