Barrett breaks All Blacks out of jail with inspiring performance

What is it with this team and the close finishes? After an extraordinary final few minutes at Eden Park tonight, with the TV match officiating and a healthy dose of controversy, the All Blacks emerged with a 24-17 victory over England.

It means their famous 30-year unbeaten record at their fortress remains intact. And yet their incredible legacy seemed set to end not with a bang but with a whimper, save for Beauden Barrett’s inspiring performance from the bench.

A week after their narrow first Test win over England in Dunedin, they can rightly celebrate as they looked to have the upper hand at the end. All four match officials were involved to discuss the pros and cons of England’s late charge, which resulted in a slew of deaths across the finish line.

England claimed that one of their players had scored, but every ball carrier seemed to be blocked. And then came the other angles, including a possible obstruction by Barrett as England’s maul headed towards the tryline.

In the end the officials decided that England were to blame for the obstruction and that was that. The All Blacks took the penalty and celebrated with great relief.

It was just after the hour mark that Barrett, replacing Stephen Perofeta at the back, first made his presence felt. It was a moment of rare quality that came after Tupou Vaa’i carried hard, with a quick ball finding its way to Barrett, who sliced ​​through and delivered for Mark Tele’a for his second try of the night.

Damian McKenzie’s conversion from the sideline just missed but the All Blacks led 21-17 and England finally had to turn a deficit around.

Barrett, of course, had more to say.

There was a good way to pick up the ball under pressure and clear it in his own area, and then again, with a chip kick which he picked up again with his foot and picked up again almost in a more orthodox way, only to then get it in (which is forgivable given the circumstances).

His brother, skipper Scott, said immediately afterwards: “We had to dig deep here until the last moment. Well done England, two strong Test matches against us,”

The All Blacks’ replacements turned the game around, with halfback Cortez Ratima coming on after 53 minutes to make an excellent Test debut, while Anton Lienert-Brown was a welcome distributor in the middle.

The spark had finally gone and England, increasingly making use of handy injury breaks, struggled to maintain it.

That’s not to say they weren’t in the game. After they had made it 14-13 at half-time with the second of their cross-kick attempts – a worrying vulnerability for the All Blacks – they were ready to go, the home side struggling for energy and a recognisable game plan.

Beauden Barrett changed all that.

Early on the All Blacks had success with their scrum, with England tighthead prop Will Stuart putting pressure on and giving away penalties, but the home side’s attacking lineout was again problematic.

Maro Itoje was again their tormentor. At one point midway through the first half, with the All Blacks leading 10-7, a kickable penalty was disallowed in favour of a lineout just inside the England box.

Instead of winning the ball, Itoje barely had to jump up to claim it and another chance was wasted.

Things went more to plan early on when Tele’a crossed from an attacking ruck into the left corner. It put the much-ballyhooed shot clock to the test for the first time and there were farcical scenes when it stopped on 47 seconds – McKenzie kicked it anyway.

The 7-0 lead was, remarkably, New Zealand’s biggest of the series. It wouldn’t last long, with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso rising to claim Smith’s cross kick and McKenzie stepping inside to go to the posts for a seven-pointer.

After an earlier promising breakthrough from Jordie Barrett and Codie Taylor, the All Blacks seemed on the verge of making a decisive move.

It didn’t quite work out; Stephen Perofeta and Tele’a combined well down the left but again the chance was wasted, Perofeta passing Tele’a one too many times when Finlay Christie was left unmarked outside him. Tele’a’s return pass found only Marcus Smith, although the All Blacks did well to catch him behind his try-line.

Another England scrum penalty allowed the All Blacks to extend their lead via McKenzie’s boot, but as in Dunedin they conceded a goal just before the end, and in nasty fashion: Tommy Freeman attempted another cross kick, with McKenzie and Tele’a close again.

Smith’s conversion gave the tourists the half-time lead, and he would take a penalty to extend the lead after the break.

And then came Beauden Barrett and the All Blacks.

All Blacks 24 (Mark Tele’a 2 attempts; Damian McKenzie con, 4 pens)

England 17 (Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman tries; Marcus Smith 2 cons, pen)

Peace: England 14-13