A few thoughts on last night's test match- Beauden Barrett was just utterly terrific. That game changed when he came on, he sparked the All Blacks, he got them on the front foot, he set up Mark Telea's second try and pulled off a huge defensive play at the end. I saw a great tweet last night -"Is there a minimum number of minutes someone has to play to get Man of the Match? Asking for a Beauden" Look, Stephen Perofeta's had a good couple of outings, he hasn't done anything wrong, but he's not Beauden Barrett. Beauden will start the Rugby Championship at 15, nothing surer. The conundrum Scott Robertson will now face is what he does when Will Jordan's fit - a nice problem to have. Cortez Ratima had a good debut, he provided zip and zing off the bench. I reckon he's earned the right to start against Fiji next weekend. I also thought Fletcher Newell also made a big difference when he came on. The end to the game was a bit controversial, but correctly officiated. England were mauling from the lineout, the maul was successfully defended. Ollie Lawrence and Jamie George broke off that maul, but Lawrence was in front of George, who had the ball - and was therefore offside as the All Blacks tried to make a tackle He was obstructing the All Blacks. You can't create a new maul with a player in front of the ball carrier, it was the correct call. In any case, Jamie George didn't get the ball down, he was held up by Beauden Barrett What England were saying is that because there was still time to play, it should have been a line dropout, which would have given them the ball back. There are a few issues to address for the All Blacks. The lineout was shambolic in the first half, across the game, they lost 7 of their own throws through steals or pressure, it was a huge work-on for the All Blacks. Yes, Maro Itoje is a formidable opponent at lineout time - and had another brilliant game - but he's just one man in the lineout. The All Blacks can't let themselves become a team that's known for being vulnerable at lineout time. The kicking, in particular the box kicking - I don't mind it as a tactic, it's part of the game but it wasn't done effectively last night. There was often no energy in our chase and the kicks were a bit too long as well which didn't allow them to be contested. Basically, we're just giving the ball back. By contrast, all of England's box kicks were contested. England are a very good rugby team, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Maro Itoje is world class, Marcus Smith could well become that, Steve Borthwick seems like a genuinely good bloke and an excellent coach. And if we're honest with ourselves, England had the chance to win both of these test matches. Instead, the All Blacks escaped - and I think that's the right word - with two victories. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related