England limped out of the final Test of the tour of New Zealand with a foot injury in Saturday’s 16-15 defeat and it appears England will miss the match. They also admitted they missed a vital chance to beat the All Blacks on New Zealand soil for the first time since 2003.
Steve Borthwick revealed the experienced Mahler will need scans on the injury but early signs are not encouraging. “To have someone as strong as Joe come off the field obviously means it’s not just a minor injury – it’s not just a bruise,” he said. “We don’t know the full extent of it, but obviously next week doesn’t look good.”
It took some time for England’s disappointment to subside after they failed to hold on to a 15-10 lead in the second half at Forsyth Barr Stadium, with Marcus Smith missing three goals.
Borthwick refused to blame anyone for the result – “Everyone makes mistakes and Marcus created magic on the pitch today” – but captain Jamie George admitted England missed a great opportunity. “Of course it is. We are here to win and achieve something that has never been achieved by an English team in 21 years.
“We did put our hands up at times and controlled the game for long periods of time, but the second half turned into an arm-wrestle and it was always going to be a one-score game. We’ll do better next week .
However, New Zealand have not lost a Test match at Eden Park for 30 years and will be buoyed by their first win under new coach Scott Robertson. “Going to Eden Park, we know their record there, but we can learn a lot from the game,” George said. “What an exciting opportunity we have in the last week of the season for us.”
All Blacks half-back Damian McKenzie’s penalty try at Eden Park could have given New Zealand a four-point lead late in the game, but after a timeout he called for the penalty clock to be clear. “I’m not going to make any excuses, but it helps,” said McKenzie, whose two previous second-half penalties ultimately decided the difference.
“It would be nice to have a timer on the screen to give myself an idea. I can’t always count to 60 in my head, especially when I’m trying to concentrate. I just miss the clock. From free throws To the shot, we had 60 seconds. He really pushed me on my previous kick and told me I needed to speed it up and it felt like I didn’t have that long on the last kick.
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“But I’m not going to point the finger at anyone. It’s entirely my responsibility and I have to work around my process to fix it. After the final call, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If we had lost the game because of the kick , that would be disastrous.
His head coach was relieved, too. “We’ve got to have it and he’s got to have it,” Robertson said. “We have to understand that’s how the game is played, you have to be faster.”
