England vs New Zealand LIVE: Rugby result and reaction as England complete incredible comeback to snatch draw
England 25-25 New Zealand: Will Stuart scored two tries as England produced an incredible comeback from 25-6 down with nine minutes to go
England burgled an outrageous 25-25 draw from New Zealand after being out of the running for most of the match, a late brace from Will Stuart helping them to a result which will nonetheless do little to quieten coach Eddie Jones’s critics.
Flanker Dalton Papali’i opened the scoring for New Zealand after just four minutes, appearing to read an English strike play off the tail of their lineout and intercepting Jack van Poortvliet’s pass to run 45 metres untouched. They added a second minutes later, Codie Taylor bundling over from a lineout after England were penalised at the scrum, and the hosts were in bad shape at 0-14 down inside ten minutes.
With England’s attack misfiring all day while New Zealand were for the most part clinical, adding a third through Rieko Ioane, it took until the final 10 minutes for some encouragement for the fractious home fans.
With seemingly nothing to lose, England exploded out of nowhere, Marcus Smith skipping through a gap to set up a close-range Stuart try and Freddie Steward rounding off a free-flowing attack to add another. The Twickenham crowd were delirious when Stuart went over again in the final minute, with Smith converting to complete a remarkable comeback.
Relive all from the autumn international between England and the All Blacks below:
Scotland 7-8 Argentina, 18 minutes
Scotlan dgo back to work inside the Argentina half. Chris Harris biffs Pablo Matera out of the way, before Jack Dempsey niftily gets back to his feet to carry again after the tackler fails to hold him.
Argentina sniff a turnover but can’t quite snatch it. Finn Russell shows his array of handling skills as Scotland keep continuity and return to the opposition 22.
TRY! Scotland 7-8 ARGENTINA (Jeronimo de la Fuente try, 16 minutes)
But Argentina reload and Jeronimo de la Fuente is over in the corner!
Finn Russell raises his arms in complaint but there is nothing wrong with Argentina’s efforts to impede him after the grubber’s ricochet. Darcy Graham holds his focus to make a strong hit on Gonzalo Bertranou as the Pumas play wide to the left, but Tomas Lavanini wisely steps in for his tackled scrum-half, ensuring the ball is swift.
Two sharp transfers put De la Fuente over.
Scotland 7-3 Argentina, 15 minutes
Santiago Carreras tries his own Lionel Messi-esque thread through, but Scottish legs block it.
Scotland 7-3 Argentina, 14 minutes
Cultured from Pablo Matera! There is little on as the number eight collects in a wide channel but Matera is wise to space in behind, dropping the ball on to a prodded left toe, and forcing Duhan van der Merwe to carry back over his own line.
Scotland 7-3 Argentina, 13 minutes
How do Argentina respond? For the first time their forwards start to make dents in the Scottish defensive line, before the slighter Juan Cruz Mallia pinballs between a couple of would-be tacklers.
TRY! SCOTLAND 7-3 Argentina (Sione Tuipulotu try, 12 minutes)
Brilliant from Russell and Tuipulotu!
Classic Finn Russell, that. The fly-half lets the defence come to him, the line fracturing slightly and allowing Russell enough space to get an arm free. A flat offload out the side door sends Tuipulotu through.
There’s still plenty to do for the centre, with Argentine tacklers circling as he canters into the 22, but a vicious right-foot step and burly finish ensure he capitalises on Russell’s deft piece of handling.
Over goes the conversion, too.
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 10 minutes
Lovely from Finn Russell! A fend, an offload, and Sione Tuipulotu hurries through the hole...
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 9 minutes
Not quite! Scotland play away from the maul and there’s a hint of an overlap as Finn Russell fizzes a miss ball to Stuart Hogg. Hogg initially appears to have got space on the outside arc, but Emiliano Boffelli’s fleet feet close the space superbly.
Hogg attempts an extraordinarily ambitious offload from the floor which ends up in Row A rather than Duhan van der Merwe’s hopeful hands.
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 8 minutes
That’s a promising start in attack from Scotland. Two dummy runners create space out the back as Argentina narrow slightly too easily, Darcy Graham charging on up the right. Matias Orlando takes him down, but fails to roll away - into the corner kick Scotland.
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 7 minutes
Schoeman makes amends! The Argentina maul initially gets a march on, but is soon halted almost singlehandedly by the loosehead prop, long locks bouncing off his back as he grips tightly on to Julian Montoya and the ball. Scotland scrum feed.
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