England picked up a dramatic 25-25 draw when taking on New Zealand at Twickenham. After a dismal defeat to Argentina two weeks ago it seemed as if Eddie Jones' team had put their troubles behind them following a comfortable victory over Japan last weekend.
This week however, it was a whole different challenge for the hosts as they took on the formidable All Blacks at Twickenham. And despite being pushed aside for the most part, England battled their ways back into to earn a credible draw.
From the very off it was the visitors who took control, as England got off to the worst possible start. This came after All Blacks star Dalton Papalii opened the scoring just four minutes in, before Jordie Barrett converted.
Like rabbits in headlights, the England setup were clearly taken aback by the quick start as things then go even worse five minutes later. In a flash Codie Taylor was the next man to cross the line for the All Blacks, which was followed by Barrett's second conversion of the evening to put the visitors 14 points ahead inside 10 minutes.
Jones' team were no doubt keen to get themselves back into it, with the game in danger of getting away from them despite only being in the early stages. However, chances proved few and far between for England in a frustrating opening to the clash.
The hosts did finally get themselves on the scoreboard with 15 minutes of the first half to go, as the ever-reliable Owen Farrell reduced the deficit by finishing off a penalty goal. New Zealand's 14-point advantage was soon reinstated though.
This came after Farrell's penalty was cancelled out by Barrett who scored one himself on the stroke of half-time to give his side a commanding lead at the break. Heading into the second half, Jones' side knew they needed to start quickly if they were going to get themselves back into this one.
However like the opening 40 minutes, the second followed a similar pattern as the All Blacks had their third try of the evening inside the opening 10 minutes. This time in came courtesy of Rieko Ioane, but the away side failed to take fully capitalise, as Barrett missed his conversion.
As time ticked on so did the frustration around Twickenham, as the hard-hitting New Zealand side thwarted out any England threat. Their chance finally did come with just less than 10 minutes to play, as Barrett's evening came to an early after he picked up a yellow card following a collision in and around the New Zealand try line.
A lengthy review from the officials then followed, before England were finally rewarded their first try of the night through Will Stuart. Marcus Smith did however fail claw back the All Blacks advantage, as the England star failed to convert moments after.
Despite the game entering the final ten minutes, England were not done yet. Stuart's try proved to be a catalyst for the home side as his teammate ** got over the line for their second of the afternoon. This time around Smith made no mistake with the conversion, as he limited the lead to just seven with five minutes to play.
And the drama was still far from over. A final throw of the dice saw England once again cut open the New Zealand defence, which had stood so strong across the opening 70 minutes of play. It was Stuart once again crossing the line as he added his second try of the night, before Smith also doubled his account to seal a dramatic draw.
