YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- England defeated New Zealand 19-7 in a thrilling semifinal to progress to the Rugby World Cup final here on Saturday.
Heavy pre-tournament favorites New Zealand had been expected to dispatch England by most pundits and fans alike, however, England produced one of the greatest performances at the World Cup to stun New Zealand and reach the final, their first since 2007.
In every department, New Zealand were second best to the English. From a dominant set piece to tenacity at the breakdown, each of the England players outplayed their opposite number.
From the first whistle, England put the pressure on the famous All Blacks side - considered one of the greatest in the history of sport. Just a minute into the game, center Manu Tuilagi went over from close to open the scoring for England.
England were off the perfect start after captain Owen Farrell added the conversion to make the score 7-0.
Anyone expecting the All Blacks to immediately hit back was disappointed, however. England continued with the pressure and with a defense for the ages that forced New Zealand into error after error.
Flankers, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, as well as lock Maro Itoje, were instrumental in organizing a defense that never looked like being breached by New Zealand.
The rest of the first half continued to be all England, and in the 25th minute, Underhill raced over to score a try. However, referee Nigel Owens, with assistance from the Television Match Official (TMO), disallowed the try, judging that Underhill ran through due to crossing.
In the 40th minute, George Ford added three points from a penalty to take the score to 10-0 on the half. It was the first time New Zealand had entered at half time in a World Cup without a point since 1995.
After the break, it was all England again. With the game being played in New Zealand's half of the pitch, the pressure finally paid off for England as they were awarded a penalty, which Ford duly slotted over to extend England's lead to 13-0.
However, in the 57th minute, Adie Savea caught a loose Jamie George throw at the lineout to score from close against the run of play to give New Zealand hope and narrow the score to 13-7.
In previous games against the All Blacks, other teams would have capitulated to a resurging New Zealand, however, the game continued to be dominated by England and their stunning defense.
Just six minutes later, England had another penalty after yet more good play. Another six minutes later, Ford added one more penalty to take the score to 19-7, over one converted try away from the All Blacks.
The final 20 minutes reflected the previous 50. England continued to be relentless in defense and controlled in attack. As the final whistle went on the 80th minute, a roar went up from around the Yokohama stadium as England began to celebrate one of the great victories.
New Zealand head coach and winner of the previous two World Cups refused to be drawn on whether his side made mistakes in the post-match interview, instead, paying his respects to England, "England played a tremendous game of footy... At the end of the day, that's what rugby's about so well done to them."
The reality of the game was that New Zealand did not play badly. They played with few errors and showed signs of quality. It was just the English performance that made New Zealand look ordinary. Man of the match, Itoje, epitomized this historic performance, leaving the game with a match-high number of turnovers and lineout takes.
England will be watching tomorrow's semifinal between Wales and South Africa to see who they will face in the final.
