England Player Ratings v New Zealand
- 3592
England scored three tries in the final eight minutes to fight back from 18 points down and earn a barely believable 25-25 draw against New Zealand on Saturday.
Here is how we rated Eddie Jones' charges in their penultimate match of the Autumn Nations Series.
Freddie Steward - 7
New Zealand made a point of not kicking on the master of the high ball and it limited his influence on the match until he raced over for a try in the 73rd minute.
Jack Nowell - 4
Nowell was put under the pump by the All Blacks' playmakers, who kicked on him regularly with Caleb Clarke contesting in the air and he had mixed success. He got limited opportunities in attack and was replaced in the final 10 minutes when England's attack fired.
Manu Tuilagi - 5
A few hefty carries and made a nice line break off the shoulder of Marcus Smith that should have resulted in a try. New Zealand kept him relatively quiet, and he missed a few tackles before being replaced after 54 minutes.
Owen Farrell - 7.5
A missed kick to touch was the real standout error in his game, but Farrell marked his 100th test with a solid performance where he battled with a leg injury that saw him give the kicking duties to Smith.
Strong on defence, had some big clearouts in the rucks and linked up nicely with Smith.
Jonny May - 7.5
May made the most of just about every touch of the ball he got as he scavenged for metres in the first half and chased kicks.
Marcus Smith - 8
He quietly grew into the game as it went on, combining with Owen Farrell well and having some nice touches. Before exploding into life in the final 10 minutes to secure the draw.
Jack van Poortvliet - 4
A tough start to the match as he was not given enough protection for his pack and was wrapped up by Ardie Savea, he was also unlucky to be judged to have knocked the ball on at the ruck, but there were some below-par kicks and passes. He also threw the pass that Papali'i picked off to score.
He started the second half better, but a night to forget for the young scrumhalf.
Ellis Genge - 6
A few strong carries and did well in the scrums. His defence was sharp too.
Luke Cowan-Dickie - 6
He continues to ride his luck with his chop tackles that don't get penalised. His lineouts
Kyle Sinckler - 6
He held his own in the scrums and made his tackles before making way for Will Stuart in the 56th minute.
Maro Itoje - 6.5
He came close to scoring in the second half before wasting the opportunity by sealing off moments later. Outside of that, it was another steady performance from Itoje as he thundered into rucks, did well at lineout time and made his tackles.
Jonny Hill - 5
He charged into Rieko Ioane and came off second-best in the first half. He got little ground from his carries but was solid in defence—a quiet and inspiring performance.
Sam Simmonds - 6
A busy yet not overly effective performance, he couldn't truly explode in this test and was replaced with 13 minutes to go.
Tom Curry - 7
A strong performance in all facets of the game, including a superb bit of footwork and hands to set up Stuart's second try. Industrious and effective.
Billy Vunipola - 6.5
An array of early penalties and some overall sloppiness, but Vunipola grew into the game and ended on a high.
Replacements:
Jamie George - 6
He picked up where Luke Cowan-Dickie left off.
Mako Vunipola - 7
He was brilliant with the ball in hand, and there was a big improvement in his scrummaging compared to recent weeks.
Will Stuart - 8
Stuart hadn't scored a try for England before this test, and what a time to grab a double.
David Ribbans - 7
A strong performance from the bench that included an excellent offload leading to a try.
Jack Willis - 6
Good work at the breakdown in the latter stages and made his tackles.
Ben Youngs - 7
He made a big improvement once he came onto the pitch as England looked more organised while he picked up two try assists.
Guy Porter - 6
He made the most of his 13 minutes on the pitch with two good carries.
Henry Slade - 7
Adding energy and zip after replacing Manu Tuilagi in the centres. Another standout performer from the bench.