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:
Late Ross Byrne penalty helps Ireland overcome loss of Johnny Sexton to down Australia
Ross Byrne landed a dramatic late penalty as Ireland overcame the loss of captain Johnny Sexton to cap a stellar year with a disjointed 13-10 win over Australia.
Replacement fly-half Byrne nailed a difficult kick from wide on the right with just three minutes remaining in Dublin to earn Ireland a record-equalling 12th successive home victory.
Andy Farrell’s men struggled for large parts of a disappointing contest and could easily have ended 2022 with a serious reality check against opponents beaten by Italy just last weekend.
Ireland centre Bundee Aki marked his return from an eight-game ban with the opening try but the game remained in the balance in the closing stages after Jordan Petaia crossed for the Wallabies.
A difficult evening for the Irish began with talisman Sexton withdrawing through injury, with his deputy Jack Crowley booting five points on his maiden Test start before Byrne, who was elevated to the bench at the 11th hour, proving to be the match-winner.
Late Ross Byrne penalty sees Ireland overcome loss of Johnny Sexton to beat Australia
Ireland 13-10 Australia: Ireland lost captain Sexton to injury before the start and scraped to a disjointed victory
WATCH: Ross Byrne the match-winner
Here’s the moment Ross Byrne held his nerve to nail this difficult penalty from out wide and ultimately hand Ireland the win
WATCH: Bundee Aki power overs for opening try
After 66 minutes with just a penalty apiece to show for their efforts, Ireland finally got over the try-line as Bundee Aki crashed his way across
FULL-TIME! Ireland 13-10 Australia
It wasn’t necessarily pretty but Ireland cling on for a dramatic win. An arm wrestle of a Test match that the hosts edge with Bundee Aki’s try and Ross Byrne’s nerveless late kick. Phew!
FULL-TIME! Ireland 13-10 Australia
A couple of phases but the ball is spilled, Ireland collect and Casey boots it into the stands! Ireland win
Ireland 13-10 Australia, 80 mins
Oh no - Ireland have lost it! One last chance for Australia!
Ireland 13-10 Australia, 80 mins
Byrne finds a safe touch. One successful lineout and they can kick the ball dead for the win. The clock about to go red.
Ireland 13-10 Australia, 79 mins
Aussies going for the win, not the draw. Lineout secured but maul is stopped. And IRELAND WIN THE PENALTY! Held up and that might be enough for Ireland.
Ireland 13-10 Australia, 78 mins
Australia get the ball back, good break from Wright, Foley makes more ground and his offload helps the Wallabies gets up to the edge of the 22.
PENALTY COMING for the Aussies. They go for the crossfield kick - taken by Nawaqanitawase - but nothing doing, so back for the penalty. Ireland not rolling away. Foley to go for the posts - similar position to his last kick, the conversion. But THEY GO FOR THE CORNER!
PENALTY! IRELAND 13-10 Australia (Byrne, 76 mins)
WHAT A KICK! Superb stuff from Ross Byrne. A pressure kick, he’s only just on the field, wasn’t even in the 23 at the start of the day until Sexton’s injury, got the hurry-up from the referee and still nails it.
Enough to win it for Ireland?
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