Rugby Union: White hope on Black day

Dallaglio's bravehearts raise England respect as all-powerful New Zealand are rocked back on their heels

England 8 New Zealand 25

Try: De Glanville Tries: I Jones, Randell, Wilson

Pen: Catt Pens: Mehrtens 2

Cons: Mehrtens 2

Half-time: 3-15 Attendance: 55,000

It is a measure of the gulf which exists between New Zealand and the rest of the world that the All Blacks will be much less pleased with this result than England.

Indeed there were times during this untidy but always passionate match when the tourists were unrecognisable as the side which has irresistibly swept all before them in recent months. For this, England can take due credit and if they are still in the foothills as far as their development as a world force is concerned, they are at least heading in the right direction.

Nevertheless, their lap of honour at the end of the match, to a rousing ovation and to the strains of "Land of Hope and Glory", was perverse in the extreme and it is a sorry reflection on the collective state of mind when defeat by a comfortable margin can excite such emotion.

England were heroic in defence, of that there is no doubt. Their tackling was witheringly accurate, rattling the All Blacks into as many unforced errors in 80 minutes as they would normally expect to make in an entire generation. Not only did England nail their men but they frequently stole possession, forcing the All Blacks to concede an unusual number of penalties.

Head and shoulders above the crowd stood the England captain Lawrence Dallaglio who, in a tactical switch at half-time, had moved to No 8 in order to accommodate Neil Back. England therefore operated throughout the second half with two specialist open side flankers and began to take the game to their opponents. Dallaglio was everywhere - thundering forward ball in hand or in support of his ball carriers, and in defence his tackle count was magnificent.

He did have the advantage of a scrummage greatly stiffened by the presence of Darren Garforth and Richard, who for many is Cockerill of the north, although his confrontational attitude at the haka set the wrong tone and unnecessarily aroused the All Blacks' ire. It may have made the Leicester hooker stand a little taller but I doubt that it enhanced the occasion.

Matt Perry had another encouraging match although, surprisingly, the All Blacks failed to put him under any pressure from the high ball. With a little more confidence he will become more certain in his running, but he played with a refreshingly positive spirit and was a stout and stable last line of defence. Will Greenwood also played beautifully, often gouging huge holes in what is usually an impregnable defence.

If only the same could have been said of Mike Catt, whose international career at fly-half surely hit the buffers for good yesterday. Had it not been for the injury to Alex King he would at least have been spared the sheer misery which overwhelmed him at Old Trafford. One's heart went out to him because he is a fine player with much to offer. His cross-field kick for Austin Healey which led to Phil de Glanville's try was an example of his intuition, but as a controller of play at this level he is out of his depth.

Sadly for England, Catt was also so out of sorts as a goal kicker that any chance they might have had of keeping New Zealand in their sights evaporated with depressing regularity. Four times he missed goal, three of them from penalties - all relatively straightforward. Not only that, but when England were still in the hunt midway through the first half, and when they were twice awarded kickable penalties, Catt declined to take them. His kicking from the hand was equally wayward and it was from one misdirected punt that Jonah Lomu plucked the ball out of the air and set off on a bruising run. When eventually he was brought down Zinzan Brooke carried on the movement and Jeff Wilson's inside pass was taken by Ian Jones, who scored in the corner.

This was just 13 minutes into the game, and five minutes later the lead was extended when Wilson himself was the recipient of a scoring pass from the other All Black lock, Robin Brooke. Such flowing athleticism from the tourists' forwards and the finishing power of their backs sent the scribes scurrying to the record books but in the event there were no records broken, save perhaps for the number of unforced errors made by New Zealand in an international.

For some unknown reason they became clogged up in midfield and uncharacteristically uncertain in attack. Seeing this, England's composure returned. The All Blacks' fallibility encouraged them into positive response. Lomu, for all his might, was slow on the turn and England were managing to keep Christian Cullen away from the ball. Which was just as well, because for the brief moments when he was in possession he looked sensational; but always there was a white wall awaiting him.

Catt eventually rediscovered his timing and kicked the first points for England after 35 minutes but, before the interval, Andrew Mehrtens' boot restored the All Blacks' 12-point lead.

In the knowledge that New Zealand can turn a game in the space of a few minutes, England tackled with even more vigour and ferocity in the second half. The battle for supremacy in the front row, which had been smouldering throughout, almost came to blows with a series of scrummages close to the England line. Although the English front row refused to yield, the All Blacks won their private battle when, with the opposition bracing themselves for the pushover, the tourists went for the quick heel and Taine Randell picked up and drove over for the All Blacks' third try.

Other England sides might have given up the ghost but not this one. Catt, seeing that the All Blacks' defence were lying too flat, kicked for Healey on the left wing. Although he couldn't hold the ball he swatted it back into the path of de Glanville who picked up to sprint over for the try. The reception at the final whistle was wildly ecstatic, but the nasty suspicion lingers that if yesterday we saw England in a better light we have certainly not seen the best of the All Blacks.

England: M Perry (Bath); D Rees (Sale), W Greenwood (Leicester), P de Glanville (Bath), A Adebayo (Bath); M Catt (Bath), K Bracken (Saracens); J Leonard (Harlequins), R Cockerill (Leicester), D Garforth (Leicester), M Johnson (Leicester), G Archer (Newcastle), L Dallaglio (Wasps capt), R Hill (Saracens), T Diprose (Saracens). Replacements: N Back (Leicester) for Diprose 40; A Healey (Leicester) for Adebayo 56.

New Zealand: C Cullen (Manawatu); J Wilson (Otago), F Bunce (North Harbour), A Ieremia (Wellington), J Lomu (Counties); A Mehrtens (Canterbury), J Marshall (Canterbury capt); C Dowd (Auckland), N Hewitt (Southland), O Brown (Auckland), I Jones (North Harbour), R Brooke (Auckland), T Randell (Otago), J Kronfeld (Otago), Z Brooke (Auckland). Replacements: A Blowers (Auckland) for Brooke 53, S McLeod (Waikato) for Ieremia 60, J Preston (Wellington) for Wilson 79.

Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia).