Eddie: It’s always up to players, mate

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Eddie Jones had no complaints over Marcus Smith’s decision to settle for a draw after England produced an astonishing fightback to finish all square at 25-25 against the All Blacks on Saturday.

England seemed destined for a second defeat of the November series when New Zealand surged into a 14-0 lead in the first eight minutes at Twickenham.

Rieko Ioane crossed for a superb try early in the second half, before Beauden Barrett’s drop goal in the 71st minute left the Kiwis 19 points in front and on course for victory in the teams’ first meeting since England’s 2019 World Cup semi-final win over the All Blacks.

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Barrett, however, was sin-binned in the build up to a try by England replacement prop Will Stuart and fullback Freddie Steward crossed minutes later.

Stuart completed the remarkable recovery when he forced his way over for a second try on the stroke of full time, with Smith adding the tying conversion.

But the Roses flyhalf was booed by some home fans when, instead of going for a win, he kicked into touch with the last play of an enthralling game.

“It is always up to players, mate,” England coach Jones said. “I trust their decision-making. I am not on the field. I don’t have access to them. I just trust their decision.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t win the game but a draw is a draw and the dominance they had in the first half, we could have fallen away.

“When you get absolutely pulverised by them, like we were in the first half, and you don’t stay in the fight, you can get blown away even more.

“We stayed in the fight, which I think the leadership of the team was outstanding. Owen [Farrell] did a great job in his 100th cap with [Ellis] Genge and Jack Nowell.

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“The crowd were absolutely fantastic, which definitely lifted the players, so we are grateful to the 81,641 that were there. I don’t know what happened to the other 349!

“They will be kicking themselves but we hope there is 82,000 next week complete because it will be a hell of a game [against world champions South Africa],” added Jones, England’s coach when they lost the 2019 World Cup final to the Springboks.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster, for whom this result rounded off a difficult year featuring four defeats, was taken aback by Smith’s final play.

“Was I surprised? Yeah I was. All I know is flip it over, I’d have liked our guys to have a crack so not sure what their tactics were,” he said.

“We’ll certainly be more disappointed than them…We’ve come here and played some great rugby. In our mind we should have walked away with win.”

© Agence France-Presse

Photo: @EnglandRugby/Twitter

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Devin Hermanus