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 Juggernaut Jonah No holding back New Zealand
Posted: Saturday October 09, 1999 06:35 PM
TWICKENHAM, England (CNN/SI) -- It was the pivotal match of the group play, and the crowd responded as Twickenham roared and came alive as England fans sang "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" only to see the All Blacks' haka in reply before even the kickoff. England would fight and fight hard at one stage tying with their rivals at 16 points. But it was their 1995 Rugby World Cup nightmare that returned to haunt them, when Jonah Lomu ran through four defenders to score a try and put the Kiwis firmly back in the driving seat, on the way to a 30-16 victory. It is likely that England as the loser of this match will face South Africa in the quarterfinals, while New Zealand will face an easier half of the draw. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter), 260-pound (118 kg) winger, who scored four tries against the English in the 1995 World Cup semifinal, fended off four tacklers in a 50-meter charge to the line at a time when the two teams were locked in a 16-16 tie 16 minutes into the second half. "I was screaming for the ball because I had some space," Lomu said. "I had my eyes fixed on the tryline and as I ran and I just got there." Substitute scrumhalf Byron Kelleher scored another try to go with the first half score by fullback Jeff Wilson and the All Blacks held on for their second win of the tournament. "The players were outstanding today. I think that in terms of the challenge we faced, to come out with this result makes it the best performance of 1999," said New Zealand coach John Hart, who guided his team to a Tri Nations triumph over Australia and World Cup holder South Africa earlier in the year. "Out defense was absolutely outstanding and we made even bigger tackles at 16-16 when the opposition was really coming at us. "I was really proud of the All Blacks today," Hart said. "This was such a huge occasion for rugby, a huge occasion for the All Blacks. This was against an England team at its peak and playing at home and we beat them three tries to one." England, whose lone try came from Phil De Glanville early in the second half, now faces a playoff if it is to gain the last eight. "We were right there when we got back to 16 all," said England coach Clive Woodward. "But there was a bad call from the referee. They were killing the ball to slow it down and we got penalized for diving in. "But you can't take it away from the All Blacks. They played very well while I was disappointed in some of the aspects of our game." The All Blacks had the first points on the board in the 12th minute when the English lost possession from their own lineout. Prop Jason Leonard was penalized in a ruck only six meters from the line and fly half Andrew Mehrtens kicked a penalty from 20 meters. After the left-footed Wilkinson had missed from 35 meters from wide on the left, New Zealand scored the first try in the 16th minute. From a lineout on the left, the ball was quickly fed to Lomu. The powerful winger was halted this time but fed the ball on and Umaga made a 20-meter charge to the corner only to be tackled just short by De Glanville. The winger managed to feed the ball out to Wilson, however, who dived over for the try. Mehrten kicked a difficult, angled conversion and the All Blacks led 10-0. Wilkinson missed another penalty from 25 but then boosted his confidence by kicking England's first points with a straight 35-meter kick in the 28th minute. Five minutes before half time Mehrtens made it 13-3 from close range but Wilkinson landed another from 27 meters and the All Blacks led 13-6 at half time The English had themselves to blame when they were doubly punished after they lost possession in a ruck inside the All Blacks half two minutes into the second half. After awarding the penalty to New Zealand referee Marshall give it a further 10 meters forward to the halfway line and Mehrtens launched it 50 meters between the posts to stretch the lead to 16-6. The All Blacks scrum half missed one from 48 meters a minute later and then England broke out to score a try which cut the lead to three points. Jeremy Guscott kicked ahead during a well-worked second phase move and fullback Matt Perry chased for the ball under the posts with New Zealand scrum half Justin Marshall. The ball struck the foot of the post and De Glanville, following up, squeezed it round the post for the score. Wilkinson's conversion made it 16-13. Mehrtens missed another 50-meter penalty and then Wilkinson brought the score level at 16-16 with a 30-meter kick in the 54th minute. But then Lomu's amazing try to stun the English and fire up the All Blacks again. Lurking in plenty of space on the left wing, he collected a long pass from Mehrtens virtually on the halfway line and began his charge. First he held off Guscott, then Dan Luger, then scrum half Matt Dawson and finally the other winger, Austin Healey before crossing in the corner with seemingly the rest of the England team trying to pile on top of him. He became involved in a brief flareup with England's back row Lawrence Dallaglio but told himself to cool down. "I had just crossed the try line and I got a knee in the face," Lomu said. "I saw three red lights in front of me saying 'don't hit him or you'll be out of the tournament.' I kept my composure." There were as few moments of confusion before the try was given and then Mehrtens kicked the conversion to make it 23-16. With nine minutes to go the lead was stretched to 14 points when England gave away possession on their own 22 on a restart and Kelleher charged through Wilkinson's tackle for the score. Mehrten's conversion made it a personal points tally of 15 points from three penalties and three conversions. Lomu was denied a second try near the end by some great English tackling and wound up playing at the back of the scrum after a series of substitutions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||
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