New Zealand 36 England 13: We started off badly and then got worse, says angry Andy Farrell
England found themselves 29-6 down at the break and despite improving in the second half the game was already out of their reach
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Stuart Lancaster barely knows what it is to lose heavily – until yesterday, his England team had suffered only one double-digit defeat, in Cardiff on Grand Slam day 15 months ago – so the head coach was understandably flabbergasted by some of the things he saw at the Waikato Stadium.
“We lacked the intensity we’d shown in the first two Tests and there were some pretty sharp words at half-time,” he admitted.
But his second in command, Andy Farrell, really let fly. “We started poorly in defence and it got worse,” said the backs coach, whose determination to make the England defence all but insurmountable has defined his coaching. “We made mistakes in putting ourselves behind the ‘eight ball’ straight away and all of a sudden we were being reactive instead of going out and getting them, which is what our defence has always been about.
“We weren’t anywhere near 80 per cent and it showed: to play an international game against the All Blacks you need to be proactive, because the minute you’re behind the gain line, things start to snowball. The first half wasn’t good enough, but at least we have something in black and white now – something that shows what intensity looks like and what it definitely doesn’t look like.”
There will be repercussions for some: possibly Chris Ashton, only just recalled to start on the wing, and certainly Kyle Eastmond, whose encouraging attacking performance in the first Test in Auckland was a million miles from his powder-puff defence here. The decision to drop Billy Twelvetrees backfired badly, as Farrell tacitly admitted.
“Kyle is disappointed,” he reported. “You don’t become a bad player overnight and he has all the skills, but he was off the pace. He’s smart, though. He won’t make that mistake again.”
As for New Zealand, a record 18th successive Test victory awaits when they face Australia in Sydney in August. They are likely to find the Wallaby midfield more resilient but they have every chance of beating the current record, set jointly by Brian Lochore’s All Blacks of the mid-1960s and Gary Teichmann’s Springboks of the late 1990s.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments