1. England lose yet another nail-biter
England have now played 6 games against the top four sides in the World going back to the 2023 World Cup. England have lost 5 of those games with the only win coming against Ireland thanks to a last second drop goal from Marcus Smith. Sandwiching that victory is a defeat to South Africa in a World cup semi-final ,which they were leading for over an hour until Handre Pollard kicked South Africa ahead, and a loss to France as well as 3 eerily similar losses to New Zealand. In each of these games England were ahead in the latter stages and in a position to win but threw the game away. These late crumbles are epitomised by the fact that England scored just 3 points across the last half an hour of each of their 3 defeats to the All Blacks. That's 3 points in 90 minutes of rugby when it mattered most. A positive view of this is that England are consistently in a position to beat the best in the world but surely this team is at a juncture where these near-misses have to become wins.
2. Wallace sititi is going to be around for a very, very long time
The young flanker has been long-touted as an exciting prospect but how many expected this level of performance so quickly from the 22 year old? In a game packed with stars he stood out and was the driving force behind New Zealand's victory. His performance included excellent tackling, strong scrummaging and 16 very impactful carries. But that is not what his outing in the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham) will be remembered for. It will instead be his ridiculous, world-class offload to set up a try for Mark Telea down the right wing. For those who have not watched the highlights, and even those who have, I suggest you go onto Youtube to watch specifically for that offload alone.
3. Ben Earl cannot be expected to do it alone
England's converted no.8 has made the position his own since being given a much deserved and long-awaited chance by Steve Borthwick. He has been, and will continue to be, one of the first names on England's team sheet but that doesn't mean he should carry the burden of ball carrying practically alone amongst the forwards. He had 17 carries on Saturday which was around double that of the next forward. The only player close to him was the excellent Feyi-Waboso who had 12. England didn't get much time to play with ball-in-hand during the game but even so, you would expect the likes of Ellis Genge, Chandler Cunninghham-South and George Martin to be busier in possession. Ben Earl could also do with using more than just his shoulders to tackle but that is a different conversation.
4. World class wingers are a lot of fun to watch
Between Mark Telea and Emmanuel Feyi-Waboso, rugby fans were treated to a masterclass on wing play on Saturday. Telea scored twice and Feyi-Waboso scored once, the Englishman's try coming from a Marcus Smith interception and smart play by George Furbank to put him in enough space to finish the counter-attacking try. As well, as scoring he had 12 carries which was second only to Ben Earl for England. One thing that is so important about both of these players is that they go looking for the ball rather than waiting on their wings which allows them to have maximum impact on the game. It also proves that they strong enough to mix it up with the opposition's fowards. Telea is so strong that he will often us the option of a pick-and-go, even when there is limited spacein the defensive line - and it works! He has fast and strong runner but is also incredibly elusive. The phrase, "he could make you miss in a phone box" is often overused but, if anything, it actually understates the brilliance of Telea. He is probably my favourite rugby player to watch and if you watch a couple minutes of Telea highlights you'll see why.
5. Substitutions - to do or not do to, that is the question
I had to get to it eventually. One thing that has been almost unanimously levelled at Steve Borthwick is a criticism over his substitutions with many, including his former players, being unconvinced by his process of making those decisions. The first round of controversial substitutions came on the 52nd minute when the front row of Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Will Stuart were all replaced. This was a surprisingly early change given that England's scrum was strong and Ellis Genge and captain Jamie George are both capable of playing 80 minutes. They were replaced by Fin Baxter and Theo Dan who have both rightly earned the trust of Steve Borthwick, but is taking off two of your senior players so early a good idea in such a big game? These issues were compounded by the fact that a creaking scrum started the chaos for the failed attempt at a game-winning drop goal. The next set of unpopular changes came in the 62 minute when halfbacks Marcus smith and Ben Spencer were replaced by George Ford and Harry Randall. At this point England were 8 points up - they would ultimately lose by 2. Many questioned the choice to have George Ford on the bench ahead of Fin Smith given his lack of game time but you can understand Borthwick's trust in Ford given his previous performances in an England shirt. There also seemed to be mixed messaging with the substitutions; George Ford is there to see a game out but that style does not suit Harry Randall. It should also be noted that Marcus Smith would likely not have made that hurried drop goal either given his atrocious attempts at 2 drop goals in the first half. The argument from Bothwick's critics is that if Smith had stayed on, England would not have needed a late drop goal to win. Perhaps that is true but we will never know. What I can so with absolute surety is that the pressure on England just went up a notch.
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