“All Blacks Clean Sweep” – 2014 Revisited: A Look Back on England’s Last Tour of New Zealand

Non Test: Crusaders 7-38 England

June 17th 2014, AMI Stadium, Christchurch

The penultimate match of the 2014 tour, England took on Super Rugby side the Crusaders, for an exhibition contest amidst the Test match action. What followed was a convincing win for the frustrated tourists, who let out ill the anger of the series defeat on the Christchurch side. The match was a good opportunity for Stuart Lancaster to assess the fringe players amongst his travelling squad, as he gave the regular starters and replacements a well earned rest.

England took no time in getting over the try line, as former Harlequins prop Joe Gray scored after just one minute. England would add a further five tries to their tally, in what was one-way traffic against the Crusaders. The additional try scorers included Ben Foden, Brad Barritt, Alex Goode, Anthony Watson and Chris Pennell, with former Gloucester and Northampton halfbacks Danny Cipriani and Stephen Myler sending the conversions through the uprights.

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Third Test: New Zealand 36-13 England

June 21st 2014, Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand

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The third Test did not have such fine margins of decisiveness compared to the previous two fixtures. The most convincing All Black win of the Summer, the third Test of the 2014 tour is best remembered for Julian Savea’s hat-trick, as the wing hit his revered top gear in the land of the Chiefs. Savea wasted no time in getting himself on the scoreboard, as the All Blacks wing crossed over for two tries in the first 10 minutes in Hamilton.

Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith then took the match by the scruff of its neck, as the scrum-half crossed over for a brace of first half tries. Smith was ruling the roost in the mid 2010s as the standard bearing scrum half across the rugby world. He would only be surpassed following Antoine Dupont’s meteoric rise, with Smith now residing in Japan. England responded to the 26-point half time deficit with Marland Yarde crossing over to score, but the damage was already done for an All Blacks clean sweep.