England’s George Ford missed two last-gasp shots at goal and New Zealand held on to win a dramatic Autumn Nations Series opener 24-22 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
A brilliant solo try by wing Mark Tele’a, converted from the sideline by Damian McKenzie, saw New Zealand regain a two-point lead with three minutes to go. But then Anton Lienert-Brown was sin-binned for a head-on-head tackle and Ford lined up an angled penalty kick from 40 metres but it rebounded off the right post.
The hosts then got a scrum in the 22, with the sell-out crowd of 82,000 baying England on, but the All Blacks spoiled the scrum and a rushed drop goal attempt by Ford after the 80-minute hooter flew well wide.
It means New Zealand complete a hat-trick of wins against England this year, by a combined 10 points. Meanwhile, England missed out on a first home win over the …