Player ratings: Future looks rosy
New Zealand won, but England, without doubt, provided the All Blacks with their toughest Test of the year.
Yes, England's 22-30 loss was even better than both the encounters between New Zealand and South Africa.
They showed the world how to upset the Kiwis, by taking them on and dominating them physically, allowing them now timer and space for that high-paced, off-loading game.
And the future looks rosy for England, who could bloom at the 2015 World Cup on home soil.
Jan de Koning rates the England players!
15 Mike Brown:
Again showed his counter-attacking ability and made his tackled. Was solid and very brave on defence as well. England have a real gem.
7/10
14 Chris Ashton:
One decent run in the first half, but nothing else before the break. His workrate improved ever so slightly in the second half.
5/10
13 Joel Tomkins:
His hands let him down too often and he slipped a couple of tackles. However, look far better with ball in hand after the break and made some good metres.
6/10
12 Billy Twelvetrees:
Conceded a penalty for being in front of the kicker, a mistake that cost his team three points. Managed a few good line-breaks in the second half and his kicking game also improved. Made all his tackles.
6/10
11 Ben Foden:
His defence was iffy and had just one real opportunity in the first half. Was no better after the break.
5/10
10 Owen Farrell:
There was a chip-kick that went directly into touch and put his team under pressure, but he his goal-kicking was on target and his distribution was fine. Needs to stop being so cocky and had to be told off by the referee at one stage.
6/10
9 Lee Dickson:
Great pressure on counterpart Aaron Smith and good clearing from the base, sound basics. But slipped as many tackles as he made.
6/10
8 Billy Vunipola:
Plenty of powerful carries, making good ground, and made all his tackles.
6/10
7 Chris Robshaw (captain):
Penalised for offside, but it was a dodgy call at best and he worked hard on defence – producing England's highest tackle count. Also had some good second-half carries.
7/10
6 Tom Wood:
Sublime offload in the tackle, struggled to make ground with ball in hand, but made all his tackles. His real value was in the line-outs.
6/10
5 Courtney Lawes:
Good contesting in the line-outs and dynamic on his own ball. However, some of his best work was with ball in hand and on defence.
7/10
4 Joe Launchbury:
Good reaction to score England's first try, even though there might be some debate about that. Some decent carries, but his workrate on defence must improve.
6/10
3 Dan Cole:
Powerful in the scrums and worked hard on defence – missing only one tackle.
6/10
2 Dylan Hartley:
Injected himself into the game and got through a huge workload. Great charge-down early in the second half, although he missed a couple of tackles.
7/10
1 Joe Marler:
He made all his tackles and scrummed strongly, but only once breached the advantage line withy ball in hand.
6/10
Replacements:
16 Tom Youngs (on for Hartley, 50th min):
His line-out throws remain shockingly poor – resulting in England's strength becoming their weakness.
3/10
17 Matt Mullan (on for Mullan, 76th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
18 David Wilson (on for Cole, 76th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
19 Geoff Parling (on for Launchbury, 46th min):
Really made an impact and was the best of the English replacements.
7/10
20 Ben Morgan (on for Vunipola, 59th min):
He was strong with ball in hand and made some vital plays on defence.
6/10
21 Ben Youngs (on for Dickson, 65th min):
Just about did the basics right.
5/10
22 Toby Flood (on for Farrell, 67th min):
He failed to make the impact on attack that was expected of him and simply doesn't possess a kicking game worth noting.
4/10
23 Alex Goode (on for Tomkins, 76th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
