by Ben Ayuko
{image by AFP}
The AllBlacks prevailed over a determined England side to win the 2nd test match in Auckland, New Zealand.
It was a straight fight from the off as both teams took turns counterattacking each other right after kick-off. Swinging and missing, they were like 2 enthusiastic boxers still trying to find their footing properly. It was as early as the 10th minute when New Zealand opened the scoring, winger Mark Telea, sneakily picking up the ball from the blindside of the ruck and lunging to score a try at the far end of the try box. The angle proved no challenged for flyhalf Damien McKenzie, as he then stuck it between the uprights for the conversion. England, not to be outdone, needed only 3minutes for their riposte. Some ingenuity from flyhalf, Marcus Smith, saw him launch the ball across the pitch with an accurate kick right into the arms of the awaiting Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The winger’s fine footwork saw him dance between 2 defenders before touching down for England’s first points of the day. A conversion by Smith leveled the score.
A couple of penalties from McKenzie saw New Zealand stretch out their lead. England, however, hit back just before the halftime claxon. They say, “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This was the case as Marcus Smith, once again, sent a long diagonal over everybody’s head to the sideline, this time, right into the hands of Tommy Freeman. The winger beat Mark Telea in the air, catching the ball and crashing into the New Zealand penalty box for a try. Smith added 2 points to give England the lead going into the break.
England came out of the dressing room with vim and vigour as they took the game to the home team. A penalty conversion saw them stretch out their lead as they kept pushing the New Zealand further and farther back into their own 22metre area. New Zealand was in desperate need of some inspiration. Step up Beauden Barrett from the bench. The New Zealand veteran came onto the pitch and introduced some more speed and ingenuity in attack. He changed the whole course of the game as whenever he had the ball, New Zealand looked to pirce through the heart of the English defense. This was evident in the try New Zealand scored as Barrett received the ball in space and simply powered through the English defensive line. He then offloaded the ball to Telea who touched down near the sideline once more.
McKenzie did miss the conversion, but he later slotted in 2 penalties to put New Zealand out of reach. England tried to hit back but they ran out of time. 24-17 it ended with the All Blacks taking their 2nd victory in the test match series.