There were contrasting results for the home countries in the opening round of the Autumn Nations Series as England snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the All Blacks and Scotland pummelled Fiji at Murrayfield.
But what did we learn from the weekend’s results, and what do they tell us about the games to come?
You win some, you learn some
Having just missed a penalty to put England back in front against New Zealand on Saturday, George Ford would have been over the moon to see the home side awarded a scrum under the posts.
But with a drop goal looking certain to decide whether England would win their first match over the All Blacks since 2019, Ford was set up with an awful looping pass from scrum-half Harry Randall. It meant a rushed attempt and a missed chance. England lost 22-24.
It is the third time this year England have led New Zealand going into the final quarter and eventually come up on the losing side.
But worry not, because England’s social media stated after the result that “sometimes you win, sometimes you learn”.
This begs the question of when England will start to learn. Was it poor replacement timings, a loss of confidence in the red zone or something else? Regardless, it is back to the drawing board for head coach Steve Borthwick.
England lack of cutting edge
It wasn’t all bad for those wearing the Red Rose: Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith looked like a half-back combination with bags of poise and confidence, something England have been looking to instil after the loss of Owen Farrell to the French club game.
Furthermore, the athleticism of Ben Earl and Chandler Cunningham-South were inspired in their defensive efforts around the park.
But it wasn’t quite enough. England’s first ruck inside the All Blacks 22m zone in the second half came in the final minute, an astonishing stat given that the hosts were ahead for much of the second 40.
It shows the team can control the middle of the park and defend when New Zealand are on the attack, but, taking away the brilliant intercept move that saw Immanuel Feyi-Waboso dot down, they continue to struggle in putting pressure on their opponents nearer to the try line.
As for New Zealand, they were superb in taking their chances and not letting England off the hook.
While they were often one or two better passes away from cutting through England more consistently, they found and exposed spaces in the high pressing defensive line and punished the home team.
Forward Wallace Sititi was outstanding for the travelling team and will undoubtedly be a key figure when New Zealand take on Ireland on Friday.
The All Blacks showed their quality, and England simply couldn’t make the most of their chances.
Firepower incoming
Scotland’s 57-17 victory over Fiji was full of brilliant moves and great link-up play, but expect both sides to get stronger as the autumn progresses.
For the Scottish, they can look forward to the likes of Blair Kinghorn and Finn Russell returning when the players based south of Hadrian’s Wall can be selected.
As for Fiji, who take on Wales at the weekend before a match against Ireland, they will see a huge number of European-based players join their squad.
Scotland looked confident in front of a raucous home crowd, but with matches against South Africa, Portugal and Australia to come we can expect a lot of rotation in the ranks.
Autumn Nations Series fixtures: week 2
- Ireland vs New Zealand
- England vs Australia
- Italy vs Argentina
- France vs Japan
- Wales vs Fiji
- Scotland vs South Africa
