England produced one of their most memorable performances in recent history with a stunning 33-19 victory over New Zealand at Twickenham, inspired by a carefully planned response to the famous Haka that set the tone for an unforgettable encounter.
The Haka Standoff That Set the Stage
Hooker Jamie George has revealed he was the mastermind behind England's distinctive V-shaped formation that confronted the All Blacks' traditional war dance, though he admitted having reservations about giving young Henry Pollock such a prominent role in the pre-match theatre.
The theory was the oldest would be on one side and the youngest would be on the other, George explained. So, I was on one side and Henry was on the other. We were quite reluctant to give it to Henry because we weren't sure what he was going to get up to with Maro Itoje in the middle of the V.
England's 2003 World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward, writing for Daily Mail Sport, described the confrontation as brilliant rugby theatre - praise that was thoroughly justified by what followed on the pitch.
A Performance for the Ages
England backed up their symbolic statement with a superb team display that produced a convincing four-try victory, ending their long wait for a home success against the All Blacks that dated back to 2012.
George Ford emerged as England's hero with two crucial drop goals towards the end of the first half that kept Steve Borthwick's men in touch at the break. The second half saw complete English dominance with tries from Sam Underhill, Fraser Dingwall and Tom Roebuck adding to Ollie Lawrence's first-half opener.
The 33-19 triumph extends England's unbeaten run to 10 matches and represents their first victory over New Zealand anywhere since 2019, marking arguably the most significant result of Borthwick's coaching tenure to date.
Looking Ahead to Argentina Challenge
Despite the magnitude of their achievement, Borthwick believes there's still more to come from his developing squad. If the players continue to strive to develop, remain ambitious with their dreams and then continue to train at the level they do, then I think there's a lot of growth to come, the England coach stated.
Attention now turns to England's final autumn opponent, Argentina, who staged a remarkable comeback from 21-0 down to beat Scotland 33-24 in Edinburgh. A victory over the Pumas at Twickenham would extend England's winning sequence to 11 matches and complete a perfect November series.
The team will be without lock Ollie Chessum and back Tommy Freeman for the Argentina clash due to foot and hamstring injuries respectively, but the momentum generated by their All Blacks triumph provides a powerful platform to build upon.
England's response to the Haka was great but then backing it up with the performance we did was the most important thing, George rightly concluded, capturing the essence of a day when English rugby announced its return to the world stage.
