An epic collapse at Twickenham has UK and social media left wondering just how the All Blacks failed to close out a victory against England.
What the British press said...
All Blacks will wonder how on earth they threw it away
By Robert Kitson, The Guardian
The All Blacks will wonder how on earth they threw it away. They have not been sighted in south-west London for four years, but for much of the game, this felt just like old times. Direct carrying, heavy pressure on the England scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet, a clever mix of diagonal crosskicks and smart running angles combined to give the visitors an advantage they would usually maximise. Fair play to England for keeping going and confounding the laws of rugby gravity.
If they had played with as much dynamism and purpose for the first 70 minutes, though, it would have helped. Eddie Jones will be grateful to his "finishers" for saving the day, but he will also know that New Zealand, for long periods, looked comfortably the better team. The late twist was all the more unexpected because absolutely no-one, home fans included, saw it coming.
All Blacks on the ropes
By Nik Simon, Daily Mail UK
The Twickenham crowd did not know whether to dance or cry. They were emotionally spent. There were 70 minutes of frustration, 10 minutes of elation and one final second of despair.
After one of the worst performances of Eddie Jones's tenure, they pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Twickenham history. Three tries in a matter of minutes changed the mood from a funeral to a festival, with Will Stuart emerging as the unlikely hero.
The prop's quickfire tries had the All Blacks on the ropes. New Zealand were down to 14-men in the final play and England had a chance to make history, but Marcus Smith kicked out the ball and settled for a draw. Henry Slade looked on with his head in his hands. Manu Tuilagi danced on the sidelines to the Freed from Desire disco music. Nobody quite knew what to make of it.
All Blacks were left to stew on failing to win a test from 14 points ahead
By Michael Cantillon, Sky Sports UK
After a Beauden Barrett drop-goal stretched the New Zealand lead to 19 points, the entire complexion of the Test changed with eight minutes to go, after the All Blacks full-back was forced to depart to the sin-bin.
First, a TMO review proved that Stuart had managed to get the ball down as he picked up and contorted himself over just after Barrett had slowed play down, before Steward sprinted in from virtually the next attack with six minutes to go.
Smith converted impeccably, and critically, to get England within seven points, but a penalty against the hosts in attack seemed to confirm the result late on.
That was until the final minute, when Stuart forced his over - becoming the first England prop in history to score twice in a game in doing so - and Smith converted to level matters to huge ovation from a bedazzled Twickenham support.
Smith chose to kick the ball out after England claimed the restart, despite still facing 14 for the final play, as the All Blacks were left to stew on failing to win a Test from 14 points ahead for the very first time.
All Blacks were superior in every department
By Oliver Brown, Telegraph UK
Even if fans sounded almost deflated when Marcus Smith kicked the ball out at the end to take the draw - they had been pleading for England to drive on for the victory - they could not help but be startled by the plot twist. For 71 minutes, the All Blacks were superior in every department, from Jordie Barrett's inspired kicking to Rieko Ioane's lightning bursts, from Sam Whitelock's leadership in the second row to Mark Telea's extraordinarily accurate defensive work. And yet when Beauden Barrett received a late yellow card for pinning Smith to the ground, England finally found their fluency with a trio of superbly-taken tries.
No wonder Jones was grinning and embracing his players as if England had just beaten New Zealand. Could this be the turning point of his tormented World Cup build-up? It surely felt it as Owen Farrell delivered a passionate speech to his players on the pitch, saluting their tenacity in refusing to give up until the final kick. The only regret was they could not muster this remarkable energy from the outset.
England rampaged forward against the fading All Blacks
By Mike Henson, BBC
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