England coach Steve Borthwick has been left lamenting another missed opportunity to beat New Zealand, as his side fell short 24-22 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday.
England led for much of the second half but gave up their advantage with two minutes to play after a Mark Tele’a try in the corner and a Damian McKenzie conversion put the All Blacks 24-22 in front.
The home side had two chances to score points in the final moments, with George Ford missing a penalty and a drop-goal to leave England short as they were condemned to their fifth defeat in the last seven matches.
The dark, ominous clouds that gathered above Twickenham will reflect England’s mood after another narrow loss in a Test match they had the chance to win.
“I think to be put in a position where you’re winning by the margin the team were at that point in time, then there’s clearly an opportunity to win the game,” Borthwick told a post match news conference.
“There was some pretty clear things why we didn’t [win] against a very good New Zealand team. We gave them a window to get back and, and they took it.”
When asked where it went wrong for England, Borthwick was quick to point out the things that went right for his side during the contest, and how much experience New Zealand had.
“If you look at that New Zealand team, you’ve got to credit them. Ten players from the World Cup final playing there, more than 1,000 caps. They had more caps in that [starting] 15 than we had in our [squad of] 23.
“But this England team led by Jamie [George], I think really played smart rugby today. And unfortunately, yes, we didn’t get the win we wanted. But I think everyone would see that this, this team has developed into being a very strong team.”
George also said he was frustrated at letting victory slip through their fingers but was pleased with his side’s effort.
“Speaking to those [New Zealand] guys after the game, they knew that they were in a very, very difficult test match,” George said. “I’m very proud of the way that we went about things today, our effort, our endeavor, but, you know, we’ve got to make sure that we learn and, and get better so that we start winning and getting on the right side of those close results.”
It was viewed as a crucial match for both sides, with New Zealand winning just three games from six in the Rugby Championship this year, and coach Scott Robertson was pleased with the resilience his side showed to claim what looked at one point like an unlikely win.
“I don’t think George Ford’s ever missed a drop kick in his life,” Roberston said. “We showed a lot of character, stayed in the fight for long periods of time. With 15 minutes to go, coming from eight [points] down to win that is a pretty special moment for us as a group.”
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett praised England’s efforts in another tight contest between the sides.
“When they’re playing like they have shown this year I think they’re a dangerous team. We potentially just played a little bit more rugby than them for majority of game. There was a few arm wrestles but I was pleased with our endeavour to play,” Barrett said.
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