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England captain Jamie George insisted no one would blame George Ford after the replacement fly-half missed a late penalty and drop-goal attempt in an agonising 24-22 defeat to New Zealand in the Autumn Nations Series opener.
A low-quality clash looked to be going England’s way after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso finished off a brilliant breakaway try in the 44th minute following excellent work by Marcus Smith.
England held a 22-14 lead after Smith added the extras to go alongside five penalties.
When Beauden Barrett had a try chalked off midway through the second half for a deliberate knock-on by Caleb Clarke, Steve Borthwick’s team appeared on course for only a ninth Test success over the All Blacks, but a dramatic finale occurred.
Firstly, Mark Tele’a touched down in the corner for his second try with four minutes left to draw New Zealand level before replacement Damian McKenzie nailed the conversion from the touchline.
Further drama followed as a yellow card for All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown for a dangerous tackle on Theo Dan gifted Ford the opportunity to win it, but he hit the post with his 79th-minute penalty before a scrum in front of the posts produced a drop-goal opportunity, which Ford sent wide as England suffered a demoralising defeat.
“We were in a position to win the game and whenever you put yourself in a position like that and don’t come away with the win, of course you’re going to be disappointed,” George said.
Unfortunately George didn’t make the kick but I tell you what he hasn’t missed many in his career so we certainly can’t blame him for that.
Jamie George
“I think we actually did exactly what we spoke about (during the final phase). We are a team that cover a lot of detail and we spoke about being in that exact position. We walked through being in that exact position and we felt like we were in control of it.
“We kept attacking. That’s the thing we made sure we focused on and learned a bit from New Zealand in the summer, we probably stopped attacking a little bit so we kept attacking them.
“And unfortunately George didn’t make the kick but I tell you what he hasn’t missed many in his career so we certainly can’t blame him for that.”
Ford’s two wayward efforts put the spotlight on Borthwick’s decision to take off Smith in the 62nd minute with England holding an eight-point advantage.
Smith had created England’s solitary try and produced a fine individual display as he attempted to help atone for his own poor kicking performance against New Zealand during the summer, but he was taken off along with scrum-half Ben Spencer, who was replaced by Harry Randall.
Borthwick said: “Well, I think when you have players of the calibre of those guys, the guys that came off the bench, look at the threat that Harry Randall is and the experience George Ford brings, for large parts ultimately we were in a position to win that game.
“New Zealand are a quality side who have played since we last played seven Test matches and been together for three months. So, it’s a different context to where we’re at. Credit to them and we’ll be better next week.”
This was England’s fifth defeat in nine Tests in 2024 after losses to France and Scotland during the Six Nations was followed by a 2-0 series reverse in New Zealand.
However, Borthwick was bullish about the prospect of his team.
“If you look at that New Zealand team and you have got to credit to them, 10 players from the World Cup final played there, more than 1,000 caps, they had more caps in their 15 than we had in our 23,” Borthwick said.
“But this England team led by Jamie really played smart rugby. Unfortunately yes, we didn’t get the win we wanted but I think everyone can see this team is developing into a very strong team.
“Ultimately this is the width of the post. That’s the reality. It is the width of the post that the result goes one way or the other and that’s the nature of Test rugby when you have two good teams. And they were two good teams today.”
New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson admitted: “I don’t think George Ford has ever missed a drop kick in his life, you know. There was probably a bit of emotion in the game.
“We showed a lot of character, stayed in the fight for a long period of time and 15 minutes to go to come from eight down is a pretty special moment for us as a group.”
