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By Paul Rolton
All Blacks V England 9th November 2025
An English team with more passion, more ideas and 1st 5/8 George Ford in career best form has spoilt the hoped for a Grand Slam Party for the All Blacks with a 33-19 score line that flattered the visitors.
The game started at a frenetic pace with both sides seemingly intent on moving the ball wide and quickly looking for an early advantage. A try saving tackle from Billy Proctor followed by the now normal game day occurrence of an Ardie Savea turnover had keep the England attack at bay, and in the 14th minute it was the All Blacks that were first to strike.
A strong carry by Quin Tupaea was followed by Ethan DeGroot and Simon Parker making ground before the always dangerous Leicester Fainga’anuku followed up a strong run with an infield pass to Procter who came within inches of the line. Fainga’anuku playing like a loose forward waswas too strong for the English defense after picking from the back of the maul and powering under two forwards for the 1st try, which Beauden Barrett was unable to convert.
The All Blacks struck quickly again with outstanding halfback Cam Roigard producing a brilliant 50/20 kick and after quick lineout ball the All Blacks attacked right with Fullback Will Jordan getting on the outside of his defender with that Jordan speed, and the All Blacks are stopped 5 metres short. Fast turnover ball goes back left where Tupaea throws a long pass for hooker Cody Taylor waiting on the edge, and he scores with an infield step that any wing would be happy to produce and with the Barrett conversion the All Blacks find themselves out to a 12-0 lead.
The English went close in the 22 minute when big lock Alex Coles was held up over the line by Procter and Roigard after a great run down the left by dangerous Cardiff born wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The English quickly bring the goal line drop out back into the All Blacks defensive 22 and after looking dangerous on both edges, they win a scrum. Halfback Alex Mitchell goes left and pops a pass to big centre Ollie Lawerence who powers through a poor Leroy Carter tackle and the English are finally on the board.
A this stage of the test the English started to gain confidence, and when Barrett missed touch from a penalty and England then stopped an All Black attack just short of the tryline, the momentum further swung the English was. Ford then showed the benefit of taking points when they are on offer with drop goals in the 38th and then 39th minute seeing the halftime score 12-11.
The second half didn’t start well for the All Blacks with Taylor being sent to the Sinbin, for what looked like a very minor infringement, and from the resulting lineout the English attack in waves and after Mitchell is held up just short big English loose forward Sam Underhill crashes over beside the post and England jump to an 18-12 lead.
The English were unlucky not to extend their lead in the 50th minute when the TMO picked up a lineout offside after Ford had cantered over for what looked like the deciding score. But it didn’t take long for England to make amends and after a Ford 50/20 it was that man Underhill who got the reward after the very efficient English forwards laid the path with quick ball, and after a poor defensive read from a lineout, Underhill was untouched on his was to dotting down beside the post, and Ford did the rest for a 25-12 lead.
In an unusual decision in the 59th minute the All Blacks chose to take a tap penalty, rather than an easy 3 points and the English defuse the attacked when Damian McKenzie, on for an injured Beauden Barrett, looses the ball in the tackle and England drives them back into their own territory. After England lose Ben Earl to a yellow card in the 64th minute, a glimmer of hope comes into the All Black camp when Will Jordan scurries over for his 46th All Black try after a short pass from McKenzie finds Jordan in open space, McKenzie coverts for 25-19 and its game on with 14 minutes to go.
This is the time of the game when All Blacks sides of the past had taken control, lifting their game to levels most international sides can’t compete with and won many a game with strong finishes. However, this All-Blacks side has struggled to do this under coach Scott Robertson and today wasn’t different. The English continued to thwart any sort of attack the All Blacks offered and the game was put out of reach in the 74th minute when Wallace Sititi, on for Parker was penalized for jumping across the lineout and Ford converted the penalty attempt for 28-19 lead and game over for the All Blacks. A late Tom Roebuck try after the All Blacks made a passing mistake when looking for an unlikely try rounded off the score form a well-deserved 33-19 victory.
This game can only be described as another game of what if’s, the All Blacks had enough ball, put themselves into great positions to score however this was often followed by poor carries or poor decisions that left the English of the hook. This is not a great English side, the difference today was Ford controlled the game expertly from fly half, and the English had a stronger overall 23.
It is not all doom and gloom for the All Blacks as their young forward pack, with 6 of the 13 in todays 23 aged 25 or under, was definitely competitive, with Josh Lord, who came into the starting pack after the late withdrawal of Fabian Holland withdraw through sickness, tacking another step forward, Lakai the All Blacks best forward and Sam Darry showing we have real strength in the All Black engine room.
There were, however, glaring holes in this All Black showing that Robertson and his support coaches need to be brutally honest about. Cortez Ratima struggled when he came on early for Roigard and seems to lack confidence in his decision making that is expected from a halfback at test level. An obviously injured Beauden Barrett looked out of sorts, whilst there is no doubt that Tupaea can be outstanding on attack his defensive reads often let him down, and he seems more suited to centre that 2nd 5/8. Procter was steading and seems to be growing into this level of sport whilst Leroy Carter after starting his test career with a hiss and a roar, has struggled to contribute in the last 2 outings. Both Fainga’anuku and Jordan are world class, though Fainga;anuku may want to make some better decisions when throwing passes to no mans land on the odd occasion, when recycling might be a better option.
As mentioned, the forward pack has age on their side, though we would like to see Samisoni Taukei”aho rediscover his barnstorming runs around the park, and whilst we have outstanding loose forwards one wonders if we have found the right mix in this area yet.
With Wales looming as the last game of this season, and with them coming off a very lucky 24-23 win over Japan, is it time for Robertson to ask the question of a few fringe players. Is it time for the Hurricanes Rueben Love to start at 10, and with Roigard limping off should Robertson be reaching down into the New Zealand XV to try Folou Fakatava who had an outstanding NPC season or Kyle Preston whose rise has been nothing short of meteoric, at halfback to build depth. This year has been a tough one for Captain Scott Barrett, with injuries, some average form and the push for Savea to be the Captain, so with Lord, Holland and Darry being the future lets give Barrett a rest.
In the loose forwards they may look at giving Samipeni Finuau a chance from the bench as the search for that big damaging loose forward continues, whilst resting the immoveable force that is Savea for his Wellington teammate Du’Plessis Kirifi could be good for both players.