Heyes put in a brilliant shift against the All Black packREUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY
Mitchell knows what must come next, so too does winger Tom Roebuck. The box kick is perfectly weighted and Roebuck, a master of the aerial art, sets off. New Zealand’s full back Will Jordan also excels in the air and here Jordan is able to run onto the ball. He jumps, Roebuck jumps, they both catch the ball, wrestling for control as they fall. Roebuck, brilliantly, wins the wrestle.
All the while, New Zealand defenders are being drawn to that side of the pitch and when Mitchell passes to George Ford, England have space and numbers out wide. The outside backs are urging Ford to pass. He shapes as if to do so and then reconsiders. There is a better option. So he angles his body away from the outside backs and rifles a magnificent kick to the far corner.
It rolls into touch ten or 12 yards from the New Zealand line. Because he launches the kick from inside his half, England have the throw. Of all the law changes we’ve had in rugby, the 50:22 may be the one that adds the most. Earlier in the game, New Zealand’s second try had been created by Cam Roigard’s 50:22, a kick every bit as finely struck as Ford’s.
As he jogs the 70 or so yards to the lineout, you can hear Heyes’s lungs scream for Will Stuart, who stands with three other England replacements waiting to come on. This is a great attacking position and not the moment for changes. The lineout is straightforward, taken at the front by Guy Pepper.
Mitchell’s long pass is aimed at Ollie Lawrence who has been troubling New Zealand’s defence throughout. This time, they’re going to nail him, except that this time, he’s not the man to nail. As they’re about to hit him, Lawrence subtly slips a pass to Fraser Dingwall who glides onto the ball and has the time to enjoy the moment before diving over beside the posts. As set-piece tries go, perfect.
In the England coaches box Lee Blackett, who runs the attack, punches the air. Others cheer and clap. One man sits impassively, his expression never changing. This is head coach Steve Borthwick. He didn’t kick the 50:22, win the lineout or score the try. In any case, against New Zealand an 11-point lead is nothing. And, for him, there is a bigger picture.
This will become clearer in post match interviews. He will be asked over and over if this is special victory because it was achieved against New Zealand. To him, this question makes little sense and he struggles with it, saying something about every victory for England is special to him. What he’s thinking is that he didn’t take the job to win an autumn international against the All Blacks, but to significantly improve the team and try to become the best in the world.
To get to where they want to be, they’ve got to improve a lot. They are getting better, that much is certain. What was encouraging about this victory was that they could fall 12-0 down inside the opening 20 minutes and come back to beat the world’s second ranked team decisively. Borthwick remains calm because this is nothing more than a small step along the way.
He is building a strong, well-coached team. Ford now has 104 England caps and at the age of 32, he is now a better fly half than he has been under any other previous England coach. Eddie Jones, for example, liked how Ford controlled games but generally picked him with Owen Farrell at 12, like having a minder for the fly half. The unintended consequence was that with Farrell at his shoulder, Ford could never quite own the shirt.
Earlier this year, Borthwick went with Fin Smith in the Six Nations Championship. Ford got a late cameo against Wales in the final game. Smith had played well and was selected for the British & Irish Lions to Australia. Borthwick understood how disappointed Ford was to have missed out on the Lions and wasn’t sure the player would have much enthusiasm for his country’s tour to Argentina.
The head coach called him up and said he would understand if he didn’t wish to travel but Ford said, on the contrary, he very much wanted to go with England. In Argentina, he excelled on and off the pitch. By the time that summer tour ended, everyone understood that Ford would start against Australia. And perhaps for the first time in his 104-cap England career, Ford felt he was England’s main. Trusted and valued. That’s why he could go for those drop goals, and why he opted to go for the 50:22.
And Ford has the England attack moving smoothly. The team made 12 line breaks against the All Blacks, the most by any team over the past five years.
Borthwick, though, won’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Ford will be 34 at the next World Cup and Smith must be developed. He started last weekend against Fiji and it would not be a shock to see him start against Argentina next weekend. It is the England show, not the George Ford show.
There was so much else to admire about England’s performance. Maro Itoje reminds us that leaders are defined not by what they say but what they do. The greatest compliment that can be paid to the England captain is that he grows ever more like Alun Wyn Jones in his leadership. When Jones led a hugely successful Wales team, he took as his personal responsibility to identify the biggest, hardest running opponent and to be there, on the gain line, ready to knock him back.
Itoje made so many of those tackles against New Zealand. Talk about setting an example.
The other stand-out performer was Ben Earl whose importance to the team continues to grow. Pepper, Underhill and Tom Curry are all top level flankers but, collectively, they don’t offer enough as ball carriers. Because of this, a disproportionate responsibility falls on Earl’s shoulders. He thrives on it, outplaying the always excellent Ardie Savea in this latest test.
Earl has spoken about his hunger for involvement in every game. Against New Zealand, his contribution was colossal and when moved to centre late in the game, he was comfortable in that role. Borthwick knows that England’s results have been better with a 6-2 split on the bench and Earl’s versatility allows the head coach to go more comfortably with six forward replacements.
As for the game itself, England’s head coach wasn’t the only one seeing the bigger picture. Waiting for a bus back to Richmond, Tom Hughson and his partner Mandy Bull reflected on their first visit to Twickenham. She’s from Canterbury, he’s from the Waikato. This was a special trip, organised to celebrate Mandy’s birthday, which is not to say that Tom himself wasn’t going to enjoy it.
“Our team got well beaten but it is the occasion that we will remember,” he said. “Honestly, when I heard the England national anthem, I cried. It was a boyhood dream of mine to come to Twickenham. I used to get up in the middle of the night to watch New Zealand play these Tests. So I was singing my heart out for the Kiwi anthem and then seeing and feeling the passion of the crowd for God Save The King, it was a dream come true. I’ve seen Test matches all around the world and it’s not like that anywhere else.
