![]() ![]() ![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() All Black destroyer sinks England ![]() Lomu used his pace and power to score one try and created another ![]() England 16-30 New Zealand
England's 1995 World Cup nemesis Jonah Lomu returned to haunt them as the All Blacks booked their place in the tournament quarter-finals with a comprehensive victory at Twickenham.
New Zealand confirmed their status as tournaments favourites while a ragged England side must go back to the drawing board if they are to stand a chance in the play-offs.
England had their chances but a host of handling errors combined with four penalty misses from fly-half Jonny Wilkinson were contrasted by the clinical finishing of the Kiwis.
But it was the men in black who capitalised on the mistakes to go into the interval with a seven-point lead. Wilkinson, who scored a record 32 points against Italy last week, missed three-first half penalties while Andrew Mehrtens made no mistake with his two. But the difference between the two sides at the interval was a converted try from Jeff Wilson. Wilson may have scored it but the damage was done by Lomu, who charged down Phil de Glanville and then sucked in three more backs to create the overlap.
The errors continued after the break and England were lucky Mehrtens kicked only one of the penalties presented to him. But Phil de Glanville fired his side back into the tie when he scored from a wonderful piece of opportunist work by the England backs. Jeremy Guscott kicked the ball through the advancing Kiwi ranks and the New Zealand No 9 - under pressure from Matt Perry - fumbled the ball on his own try line allowing de Glanville to tap down around the post. Level best England were rejuvenated and levelled the scores (16-16) for the first time since kick-off through a Wilkinson penalty. The Twickenham crowd roared in approval but were silenced minutes later by the return of England's 1995 World Cup destroyer, Lomu. Taking the ball inside his own half, Lomu motored down the left-flank swatting off Guscott, then Austin Healey, then Dawson and finally Luger before thumping into the corner for a fantastic solo try. If that did not knock the heart out of the England attack then another miss from the boot of Wilkinson did. Instead of hauling themselves back to 19-23, England were soon 16-28 down as Byron Kellerher thundered over for the All Blacks' third try after acting scrum-half Healey had dallied over the ball. Mehrtens, a candidate for player of the match, slotted over the conversion to increase the winning margin to 14 points. Teams:
England: Perry, Healey, De Glanville, Guscott, Luger, Wilkinson,
Dawson, Leonard, Cockerill, Vickery, Johnson, Grewcock, Hill,
Back, Dallaglio. ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]()
![]() |