Ford steers brilliant England to emphatic win over New Zealand

LONDON :A pumped-up England rallied from 12-0 down with 25 unanswered points and a powerful finish to beat a ragged New Zealand 33-19 on Saturday and claim their first Twickenham victory over the All Blacks since 2012 and end their Grand Slam hopes.

Tries by Leicester Fainga’anuku and Codie Taylor gave New Zealand an early 12-0 lead but an Ollie Lawrence try and two George Ford drop goals cut the deficit to a point at halftime.

Tries by Sam Underhill and Fraser Dingwall early in the second half put England 25-12 ahead, Will Jordan struck back for New Zealand, only for Ford to slot a vital penalty and Tom Roebuck to add a fourth try for the hosts.

It was England's first victory over the All Blacks since the 2019 World Cup semi-final - they lost all three games last year - and only their third in the last 22 meetings, the most recent being the 2019 World Cup semi-final in Japan.

It was fully deserved too as they attacked with real venom and often left the vaunted All Blacks looking unusually short of ideas with the ball.

England lost to New Zealand three times last year by a combined total of 10 points, failing to score a point after the hour in all of them. On Saturday, however, they kept the foot on the pedal to finish in control.

Ford had been preferred to Fin Smith at flyhalf for his vast experience and he showed everything he has learned in 104 caps in a polished display that earned him the man-of-the-match award.

"We went 12-0 down and came back well," he said. "We became a bit inaccurate so we had to work a few things out and the boys did that really well. We are big on trying to be calm and composed and give the right messages to the lads."

FAINGA'ANUKA GIVES NEW ZEALAND FAST START

After England had again failed to turn