New Zealand 24-17 England: Late Mark Tele'a try gives All Blacks series win after brilliant Beauden Barrett cameo
By Rhys Jones
Published 13/07/2024 at 10:52 GMT+1
England suffered an agonising 24-17 defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday to round out their summer tour with two losses from two. England leave New Zealand beaten but brave after two late penalties from Damian McKenzie and two tries from Mark Tele'a proved too much for Steve Borthwick's rapidly improving side. A stellar 20-minute cameo from Beauden Barrett also changed the game.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
England suffered an agonising 24-17 defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday as two late penalties from Damian McKenzie and a sensational 20-minute cameo from Beauden Barrett left England with an insurmountable hill to climb.
All of the All Blacks' points were scored by McKenzie, who slotted four penalties and a conversion, and Mark Tele'a, who bagged two tries.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman scored England's two tries and Marcus Smith added two conversions and a penalty.
It was a match that Steve Borthwick's England perhaps lost more than the All Blacks won but if any one player could be held responsible for the Kiwis' second-half surge then it was surely Beauden Barrett.
The 33-year-old has responded to his benching by Scott Robertson in the only way a player of his supreme calibre can. Introduced to the fiery fixture on the 60th-minute mark, he totally changed the game.
He was responsible for a second Tele’a try after making huge metres and offloading to the winger to blitz into the corner, and the veteran All Black was assured in all areas of the game in just the 20 minutes he was on the pitch.
Eden Park is a fortress for the All Blacks but for 60 minutes the English siege had almost stormed the castle. The kicking game of Smith had poked holes in the hosts' backfield in a territorial sense, and both of England's tries happened after deftly weighted cross-field kicks from the Harlequins fly-half.
But Barrett’s defensive work both positionally and from the boot suddenly shut the door on Smith and England’s kicking game. After shoring up the defensive side, his offensive kicking and clearing then punctured holes in a tiring English defence.
It was the All Blacks who struck first through Tele’a shortly after the 10-minute mark. The winger finished superbly, but it was the world-class Ardie Savea who made huge metres with countless England defenders draping off him. The All Blacks whipped it wide and Tele’a finished in the corner. The winger ran for a total of 89m over the 80 minutes.
In an immediate response, star boy Immanuel Feyi-Waboso weaved his way to the line after a slick England line-out.
Smith, whose performance on both sides of the ball was exemplary yet again, dinked a beautiful cross-field kick to the Exeter Chiefs winger and the 21-year-old left McKenzie and Tele’a in the dirt.
McKenzie offered two penalties to put his side six points ahead until another piece of Smith sorcery on the stroke of half-time saw England enter the break a point ahead.
The fly-half spotted Tommy Freeman waiting in space on the wing and Smith’s kick met him perfectly in mid-air.
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Smith slotted a penalty 10 minutes into the second half and England had a four-point buffer. Errors started to creep into the All Blacks' game and suddenly, the prospect of an English win at Eden Park looked real.
But by then, it was time for Barrett to make his way from the bench to the pitch and flip the game in the hosts' favour.
There was hope of England drawing as they powered their way to the New Zealand line in the 79th minute. They made it over, but the officials deemed that Ollie Lawrence caused an obstruction in the maul as Jamie George went for the line.
England leave New Zealand beaten over two agonisingly close Tests but depart with their heads held high, knowing they pushed the Kiwis to the limit on their home soil.
"All credit to the boys. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed these last five weeks, on and off the field," Smith said at full-time.
"At 60 minutes, if we scored next... it’s the small moments. Eden Park is an historic place and we had a lot of belief to do something special. A bit of breakdown and wrong decisions from myself turned the tide. A tough one to take but I’ve enjoyed the last five weeks.
"Guys like Fin Baxter and Ollie Sleightholme, days they’ll never forget. We’ve got a lot of young lads in the squad - I’m feeling old! We’re growing as a group and on another day we’d get a result either today or last week. Fair play to New Zealand, a tough team to beat and we’ll give them a good go in the autumn."
England will soon have their chance for revenge when they welcome the All Blacks to Twickenham for the first time in two years as part of this year's autumn internationals. Borthwick's side will also face Australia, South Africa, and Japan.
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