All Blacks have no answer to awesome England as Grand Slam tilt ends in tatters

Sunday, 16 November 2025

At Allianz Stadium, Twickenham: England 33 (Ollie Lawrence try 25min, Sam Underhill try 43min, Fraser Dingwall try 55min, Tom Roebuck try 77min; George Ford pen, 2 cons, 2 dg), All Blacks 19 (Leicester Fainga’anuku try 14min, Codie Taylor try 18min, Will Jordan try 65min; Beauden Barrett con; Damian McKenzie con). HT: 11-12.

Yellow cards: Codie Taylor (NZ) 41min; Ben Earl (England) 65min.

There is to be no Grand Slam for Scott Robertson’s All Blacks, their hopes of a Home Union sweep ground into the Twickenham turf by a magnificent England performance that laid bare the shortcomings of this New Zealand team.

Behind a standout performance from flyhalf George Ford and a dominant display through the middle stages of the match, Steve Borthwick’s England side on Sunday (NZT) scored their first home victory over the All Blacks since 2012, just their ninth in history (in 47 attempts), extended their win streak to 10 and made a massive statement in terms of their own place in the global pecking order.

Robertson’s New Zealanders had started the day hopeful they could set up a first Grand Slam of the Home Unions since they last achieved the feat in 2010, and ended it comfortably beaten as England rattled off 25 unanswered points either side of halftime to take command of a quality test to set up a famous victory.

England had any number of impressive performances on an afternoon where they showcased splendidly their intriguing blend of precision kicking, pressure defence (they made 194 tackles all told) and strong finishing in the right parts of the field. They kept their cool after conceding two early tries and roared back to take control of the match.

Skipper Maro Itoje led the home pack splendidly, with a game-high 22 tackles, as the England forwards shaded the battle everywhere but the lineout, where they coughed up a quartet on their own throw. Their scrum had the All Blacks rattled throughout and they won the battle at the breakdown to set up a four tries to three victory.

The England loose forwards, from surging Sam Underhill to muscular Ben Earl to a busy Guy Pepper, got through their work fabulously, and Henry Pollock entered the fray late to stamp his mark with his ferocious commitment.

But credit, too, to the home backs who, on balance, outplayed their more fancied opposites. Ford, in the pivot, was mighty as he masterminded the performance. His pair of dropped goals late in the first half were vital in allowing his side to surge back into the contest after finding themselves in an early 12-0 hole, and he was also unlucky to have a second-half try rubbed out.

Scrum-half Alex Mitchell was equally as influential with a brilliant tactical effort, while Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Lawrence, who both crossed for tries, were outstanding in the home midfield, as were Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tom Roebuck out wide. Marcus Smith also fronted manfully after being an early replacement for Freddie Steward at the back.

The All Blacks had their moments, but simply had no answer to the irresistible momentum created by Borthwick’s men through the middle stages of the test. They were also once again bested in the aerial challenges, which remains a major concern for a side with a lot to fix in this World Cup cycle.

Up front, Peter Lakai and Ardie Savea worked hard in the loose, Codie Taylor crossed for a try in a strong effort marred only by his yellow card for a marginal play at the ball on the deck early in the second spell and the visitors’ lineout held sway throughout.

Among the backs, Leicester Fainga’anuku made some typically strong carries, Will Jordan took his test try tally to 45 with a nice second-half finish and Billy Proctor produced some positive moments. Halfback Cam Roigard was also impressive, before limping off early in the second spell with an ankle injury.

It was not, though, one of Beauden Barrett’s finest efforts in the test arena, a couple of missed penalty touch-finders notable in a sub-par effort overall, while several of the All Blacks backs were exposed defensively by the sharp England attackers.

An absorbing, surging, tit-for-tat first 40 ended with the New Zealanders scoring two tries to one, but leading by just a single point, 12-11, after Ford’s expertly taken pair of dropped goals late in the spell saw the hosts storm back from a 12-0 deficit at the midway point.

The All Blacks had looked to have taken a firm grip on the match when they struck twice in a five-minute period around the quarter-hour mark, Fainga’anuku opening the scoring when he powered over from a ruck and hooker Taylor doubling the tally when he jinked inside Mitchell’s tackle wide on the left after an outstanding carry by Jordan to set up quality field position.

At that stage England looked to be on the ropes. But they came out swinging to get their capacity crowd at Twickenham back into the occasion.

First powerhouse midfielder Lawrence struck, soon after his wing Feyi-Waboso had gone close wide on the left, when Leroy Carter went too high on the tackle and the big centre was able to finish on the step inside.

Then, with Beauden Barrett missing a couple of kicks for the sideline, it was England who finished the spell the better, twice setting up strong field position to allow Ford to coolly slot a pair of three-pointers. From 12-0 to 12-11, the match was well and truly back in the balance.

The break did little to halt the home side’s momentum, too, as they came out in the second half and took charge of the contest. Underhill punished Taylor’s yellow card with a powerful finish after Mitchell had gone mighty close on the dab; and then after Ford had an impressive finish rubbed out by the TMO, the flyhalf produced a 50-22 to set up Dingwall’s 55th-minute try that made it 25-12, on 25 unanswered points.

From there it was always going to be a long way back for the New Zealanders. Jordan briefly raised the Kiwi fans’ hopes when he sliced through off Damian McKenzie’s short pass to close it to 25-19 with a quarter of an hour to go before a Ford penalty and Roebuck’s try, from Pollock’s skilful twin kicks through, sealed the deal.

No Grand Slam. But a ton of glory for a mighty England effort.