Test rugby: All Blacks and England draw 25-25 at Twickenham

The All Blacks and England have drawn 25-25 in New Zealand's final Test of the year at Twickenham this morning.

The All Blacks blew a 19-point lead in the final 10 minutes of their season, leaving them to settle for the draw.

In a penalty-ridden game, the All Blacks made the best possible start to the Test with two unanswered tries to Dalton Papali'i and Codie Taylor in the first 10 minutes and never let go of the lead until the final minute of the game.

Despite regular attacks on the New Zealand line, England were unable to cross for a try until the final 10 minutes of the game, but then scored three tries to level the scores.

New Zealand led 17-3 at half-time, with Reiko Ioane scoring their third try in the 50th minute.

A drop goal from Beuden Barrett with 10 minutes to go appeared to seal the victory for the visitors with a 25-6 lead, but England immediately hit back with their first try in the 71st minute, before Freddie Steward scored again two minutes later.

The All Blacks were also forced to play the final minutes of the game with 14 players after Barrett was yellow-carded for a professional foul while trying to prevent England's first try, and the hosts crossed the line with a minute to go to secure the draw.

See how the match unfolded with RNZ's live blog

Scrum half Van Poortvliet, whom many England fans wish Eddie Jones would start more often over the veteran Ben Youngs, endured a torrid start to the game with his intercept pass being followed by a sacking off the base of a scrum.

That nearly cost England a third try before it was disallowed, but worse was to follow.

The Twickenham crowd had been revved up by pregame footage on the big screens of England's best performance under Jones and the last time these sides met, the 2019 World Cup semi-final where the men in white were unstoppable.

How distant a memory that soon seemed.

Where in 2019 back-rowers like Tom Curry and Sam Underhill perfected a brutally front-foot defence as England stunned the All Blacks into submission, New Zealand repeatedly sidestepped the rush defence to find gaps.

They found joy with kick-passes too, wingers Jonny May and Jack Nowell spending much of the day scrambling across the turf to try and put out fires.

The sides exchanged penalties either side of the break as England fought for a foothold in the game, and the fractious crowd's mood darkened further when Rieko Ioane scorched down the left wing to make it 6-22.

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.

After the buzz fades some fans may query why England did not push for the win given how rampant they were at the close, Marcus Smith opting to kick it out and settle for a tie that had seemed impossible for the first 70-odd minutes.

"I think it depended where we had the ball. It's a difficult place to go from. They had bodies piling in, we had men out. It was the right decision I think," Owen Farrell said.

Neither side has been at its best in this Autumn series, with England suffering a dispiriting loss to Argentina before thumping an unusually meek Japan last week while New Zealand's bench helped them come from behind against Scotland.

England next face South Africa, their nemesis in the 2019 World Cup final, although they can look to their last-gasp win over the Springboks in the 2021 round of Autumn fixtures for some inspiration against an intimidating-looking lineup.

New Zealand meanwhile return home unbeaten at least, and can spend the flight wondering how they threw away such a commanding lead as they turn to preparation for next year's World Cup.

IAN FOSTER

New Zealand rugby coach Ian Foster said his team felt flat after allowing England to grab a last-gasp draw in a game the All Blacks dominated for 70 minutes.

"We'll be more disappointed than them," Foster said.

"I loved the way we played for large parts of the game, we're moving well, but it shows we're not quite there yet."

Foster said he was surprised England did not press for the win, a sentiment echoed by swathes of the home crowd who had booed Marcus Smith's call to settle for the draw.

"If you flipped it around, I would have liked our guys to have a crack, so I'm not sure what their tactics were," Foster said.

England captain Owen Farrell defended the decision, saying that England were not in a strong field position to attack.

Coach Eddie Jones likewise poured cold water on the suggestion that his side had bottled the chance to try and snatch an even more famous win, saying he trusted his players to make their own decisions.

For all the focus on England's dual playmaker threat of Smith and Farrell, it was New Zealand's duo of Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett who ran the game on Saturday, repeatedly outflanking the hosts with clever cross kicks.

"Beaudie on those kick passes, he's very good at it and he sees space," Foster said.

While the Smith-Farrell axis still needs work if it is to be England's first choice setup, the All Blacks appear to have settled on starting Mo'unga at ten with the former incumbent in the role, Barrett, acting as a second option from full back.

"While it's frustrating, there were large parts of that performance that I'm really proud of," Foster said, pointing to the set piece where the All Blacks eked scrum penalties and mostly dominated the lineout.

EDDIE JONES

England rugby coach Eddie Jones praised his team's never-say-die attitude and the impact of his bench players.

"All of a sudden someone blows some magic dust, the passes start to stick, the passes are a bit sharper, our finishers came on and really improved the game we wanted to play," Jones said.

The replacement props were particularly to the fore in England's comeback.

"Mako (Vunipola) came on and ran some really good lines down the centre of the field, which allowed us to attack a bit straighter on the outside," Jones added.

The star of the show though was the less-heralded Will Stuart, whose brace either side of a Freddie Steward try completed England's turnaround.

"He's got a special session on Monday, how to score a try," Jones said wryly of Stuart's unorthodox technique of grounding the ball between his legs for the decisive score.

Another less-known England player, the Northampton Saints second row David Ribbans who was drafted into the squad amid a run of injuries for rivals to his place, also caught the eye.

"It was a good pass that, outstanding," Owen Farrell said of an out-the-back offload from Ribbans that typified the replacements' desire to throw caution to the wind and attack with the game seemingly lost.

As well as the star subs, coach Jones and captain Farrell were both significantly eager to praise scrum half Jack van Poortvliet, the young rival to his Leicester team mate Ben Youngs for the number 9 jersey who endured a torrid first half.

JVP, as his England colleagues call him, threw an intercept pass, had a kick charged down, and was sacked from the base of a scrum but never let his head drop and avoided the ignominy of one of Jones' trademark brutal early substitutions.

"JVP didn't get flustered, there's plenty of blokes who come into test rugby and make a mistake and just don't want to make another, but he's not like that," Farrell said.

Jones likewise said the game will have taught him a lot and praised the young scrum half for sticking at it, saying also that he had sustained an injury.

"JVP's bone went through his finger, but he's a tough bloke, he'll be OK," he added.

- RNZ / Reuters