Barrett inspires All Blacks fightback to beat England and win series

Beauden Barrett came off the bench to inspire a New Zealand fightback Saturday as the All Blacks came from behind in the second half to beat England 24-17 and claim the series 2-0 in Auckland.  

Wing Mark Tele’a scored two tries, one each half, and Damian McKenzie slotted four penalties as the All Blacks survived a scare for the second week in a row as they kept their 30-year unbeaten record at Eden Park intact. 

Just like in the 16-15 first Test win at Dunedin, New Zealand had to wrestle back the lead after half-time from Steve Borthwick’s spirited young England side.

“Hugely proud of the boys to hold on and win the arm wrestle and finish off a good performance,” said New Zealand captain Scott Barrett. 

“Test matches certainly challenge your character and we had to dig deep there, right till the last minute.”

England’s Borthwick was full of praise for his new-look side who pushed the All Blacks all the way in both Tests

“Immense effort and rightly proud. Team is progressing and we still have work to do but we have taken a step forward,” said Borthwick.

“You can’t buy experience. We are a young side. They have around 300 caps more than us.”  

Fly-half Marcus Smith had an outstanding first half as he led the visitors to a 14-13 half-time lead. 

Two pin-point cross-field kicks created tries for wings Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Smith also made a try-saving interception.

"There is hugely exciting times for this team" ❤️

England captain Jamie George proud of his team's efforts despite back-to-back defeats to the All Blacks 🙌 pic.twitter.com/C0SDIXDzHa

— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 13, 2024

“For me it was just the small moments. Eden Park is a historic place and we had the belief we could do something special,” Smith told Sky Sports.

“It was probably the small moments — a touch at the breakdown, a few wrong decisions on the edges from myself — that turned the tie in the All Blacks’ favour.

“On another day we get the result here or the result last week.”

‘We found a way’

After a breathless opening spell, the All Blacks took the lead when Tele’a caught the England defence napping from a ruck to dart over.

All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie landed the conversion, but England hit back and began to dominate possession and territory.

Smith kicked wide into the arms of Feyi-Waboso, who stepped inside the defence for a converted try.  

New Zealand should have had a second try when Tele’a broke away, but Smith intercepted the final pass to Stephen Perofeta on the England tryline.

McKenzie landed a penalty, but Smith quickly took the kick-off to pin the All Blacks deep in their own half, where they stayed for the next 15 minutes.

McKenzie stroked over another penalty, but England led at half-time after Freeman leapt over Tele’a to haul in Smith’s kick and touch down.

The England number 10 successfully converted from the touchline.

England started the second-half camped in the All Blacks half and Smith extended the lead to 17-13 with a penalty.

“They boxed us in the corner and we couldn’t get out,” said New Zealand coach Scott Robertson.

“That’s not All Black standard, but we still found a way.”

With half an hour left, scrum-half Cortez Ratima came on to make his All Blacks debut for a dazed Finlay Christie but it was the introduction of Beauden Barrett that swung the momentum back to New Zealand. 

The twice world player of the year showed his class and experience, relieving the pressure with calm handling, line-breaking runs and tactical kicking.

He created the try that restored the lead for New Zealand when he scythed through a gap to put Tele’a over.

McKenzie missed the conversion, but landed two more penalties.

“I think we’re a significantly better team than we when we started,” said England captain Jamie George. “There’s hugely exciting times ahead for this English team.”