DUNEDIN, New Zealand, 13 June 2004 — A rampant New Zealand All Blacks put world champions England to the sword with a first-half three-try blitz here yesterday that formed the basis of an emphatic 36-3 win in the first rugby Test.
England, at the dawn of a post-Martin Johnson era and without Jonny Wilkinson, were left clutching at straws as the black wave swept forward, and their much-touted forward pack crumbled before the New Zealand eight.
Head coach Sir Clive Woodward had rated his pack as possibly better than the World Cup side, but they struggled against the new-look All Blacks who regained the rugby limelight by deposing England as No. 1 in the world rankings.
Before a near capacity crowd of about 38,000, the All Blacks ran in three tries, all in the first half and all converted by Daniel Carter who added five penalties for a personal tally of 21 points for the match.
It was England’s biggest defeat since losing to New Zealand 64-22 here six years ago, and the first time in 46 Tests that England have lost twice in a row after being beaten by France in the final match of the Six-Nations tournament.
Despite the desperate efforts of Lawrence Dallaglio, whose ball-winning skills saved England from further embarrassment, the world champions were outmuscled in the forwards, forced onto the back foot by astute tactical kicking and lacked a defensive answer to the skills of the All Blacks backs. The all-round superiority of the All Blacks allowed new coach Graham Henry to go to the bench earlier than anticipated, giving Nick Evans and Sam Tuitupou their first taste of Test rugby with 20 minutes remaining on the clock.
England suffered from handling errors caused by the heavy dew on the ball, with the game played in near freezing conditions, but their real problem came from ineffective tackling. From a deep England kick-off two explosive bursts by Joe Rokocoko, in which he waltzed around James Simpson-Daniel, took the All Blacks deep into England territory where Carter kicked the first of his penalties in the fifth minute after the England backs were ruled off-side.
Hodgson replied with a 30-meter penalty to level the score in the 12th minute but the rest of the first-half was one-way traffic as the All Blacks ran in three tries, all converted by Carter who added two more penalties.
Carlos Spencer scored the first try in the corner, doubling around Doug Howlett after the All Blacks won the ball when Chris Jack charged down a clearing kick by Matt Dawson.
Rokocoko followed with a classic try in which the All Blacks turned a botched attempt by Keith Robinson to gather a high kick into a sweeping 60-metre movement in which the ball passed through five sets of hands before the flying left wing crossed the line.
South Africa Sweep Ireland Away in Second Half
Bloemfontein, South Africa, a dramatic second-half onslaught by South Africa swept Ireland away 31-17 in the first game of their two-Test series yesterday.
In their first Test under new coach Jake White, the Springboks produced a clinical second-half display as they overpowered the Irish in Bloemfontein.
Centre Wayne Julies, flanker Pedrie Wannenburg and lock Bakkies Botha, who grabbed two, scored tries as South Africa limited the Irish to just a drop goal and a penalty by flyhalf Ronan O’Gara after the break and overwhelmed the visitors with a cohesive forward effort and stout defense.
Fullback Gaffie du Toit kicked 11 points with three penalties and a conversion while O’Gara scored 12 points with three penalties and the drop goal. The Springboks started brightly, with Botha crossing for the opening try in just the third minute.
O’Gara and du Toit then traded penalties, before Irish wing Shane Horgan went over in the 14th minute, after captain and center Brian O’Driscoll had made a scything midfield break, to level the score.
O’Gara put Ireland into the lead three minutes later with his second penalty, before Du Toit leveled the scores at 11-11 four minutes later.
Both sides attempted to use their hard-earned ball from the primary phases in positive fashion, but their efforts were in vain as the score remained 11-11 at half-time.
The Springboks then dominated the second half, continually driving the visitors back behind the advantage line, with Ireland fading terribly as they were strangled by the South African forward dominance that refused to let up.
