Jones: It will be a great game v the Boks
Eddie Jones hailed his “pulverised” prize fighters as they bounced off the Twickenham canvas yesterday to stun the All Blacks and snatch an incredible 25-25 draw.
Prop Will Stuart became the unlikely hero by scoring two of the three crucial tries near the end of a pulsating contest to deny the tourists victory. Having been second best, and trailing 25-6,
Owen Farrell and his men scored 19 points in the final 10 minutes to somehow rescue a game which looked well beyond their grasp.
Roared on by a frantic crowd, this was one of England's finest Test comebacks against top opposition as they showed real spirit and desire to avoid a second loss in this autumn campaign.
Jones admitted: “We're disappointed we didn't win it! I never felt the game was gone. We just had to hang in there. We did that and were able to put pressure back on them at the start of the second half and were the dominant team.
“When you get pulverised by them as we did in the first half you can get blown away. I've coached teams that have been blown away by the All Blacks but we stayed in the fight.
“We couldn't convert the points but then someone sprinkled the magic dust and were able to. The game changed and it was important that we played with such great spirit. “We had some players in key positions and it was a big ordeal. The All Blacks target three or four positions and you have to handle the baptism of fire, and then you will be a better player next time.”
Asked whether he agreed to Marcus Smith kicking the ball out at the end rather than try and ignite another England attack, the head coach claimed: “It is up to the players whether they kick the ball out at the end. It's there decision and I trust it. It's going to be a great game against South Africa. The Springboks will target this game against us. They don't like being beaten and will play some big physical rugby against us. We have to be ready for them, and we will be.”
New Zealand had fullback Beauden Barrett was sin-binned for foul play having dominated the game but failed to avenge their World Cup semi-final defeat to the men in white three years ago in Japan.
Tries from Dalton Papali'i, Codie Taylor and Rieko Ioane seemed to kill off England's hopes but prop Kyle Sinckler claimed it proved it was a sign of the side's never say die character. He said: “To come back from that size deficit and almost even win it was testament of the character and spirit within the team. The game was a tale of two halves and the finishers who came on did a great job. Obviously the main aim is the World Cup but international rugby is all about the here and now. It is really promising that when our backs are against the wall we can come back and get a draw against a world class team.”
All Blacks boss Ian Foster admitted: “It's a draw and we played some great rugby but we should have come away with the win. We are a little bit flat but I loved the way we played for some of that game.”
Man if the Match Richie Mo'unga admitted: “I'm pretty speechless really. We had the game virtually won and were in full control but then a mistake or two and suddenly England came back and denied us.”
