England beat New Zealand 31-28

TWICKENHAM, England (AP) -- England beat New Zealand 31-28 at Twickenham on Saturday, its first rugby victory against the All Blacks since 1993.

Near perfect kicking by Jonny Wilkinson, who also scored a try, and tries from Lewis Moody and Ben Cohen, ensured England remained unbeaten at home in 16 games.

England, which fielded a strong team, went into the match as favorites, but New Zealand was always dangerous.

Two tries by powerful winger Jonah Lomu, and one each for Doug Howlett and replacement scrum half Danny Lee ensured the game was close to the very end.

"It is all about winning," Wilkinson said. "We had good spells and bad spells and although we didn't play consistently well we still came away with the victory."

At half time, England were 17-14 up after a fraught 40 minutes in which the lead seesawed between the two teams.

But a surge of points in the first ten minutes of the second half sealed the All Black's fate.

Wilkinson was fed the ball 20 meters out and kicked over the All Blacks defense, before gathering possession for a sparkling individual try which he also converted.

Moments later winger Ben Cohen powered over the line to score, also converted by Wilkinson, taking England 31-14 ahead.

Lomu, whose form has been in question, brought New Zealand back into the match, beating Mike Tindall and Cohen to go over the line. Record points scorer Andrew Mehrtens, who was brought on at halftime for Carlos Spencer, converted, to put New Zealand within 10 points of England.

Lee's try, converted by Mehrtens, narrowed the gap further, but it wasn't enough for the Kiwis who had fielded four rookie starters. Most of the players that helped New Zealand win the Tri-Nations trophy from Australia had been left at home.

The one-off test was the first time the two sides have met since the 1999 World Cup, when New Zealand won 30-16 at Twickenham.

England skipper Martin Johnson admitted it had been a "strange game" with both sides enjoying spells of domination.

"At the start of the second half we got every break going for the first 15 minutes," he said. "But they fought back and were right back in it again. But we won and to beat New Zealand any time is very good."

Overall, England has now won only five of the 24 games it has played against New Zealand since 1905, with one draw.

LINEUPS -- England -- Jason Robinson; James Simpson-Daniel, Will Greenwood, Mike Tindall, Ben Cohen; Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Dawson; Trevor Woodman, Steve Thompson, Phil Vickery, Martin Johnson (capt), Danny Grewcock, Lewis Moody, Richard Hill, Lawrence Dallaglio.

Replacements: Mark Regan, Jason Leonard, Ben Kay, Neil Back, Austin Healey, Ben Johnston, Tim Stimpson.

New Zealand -- Ben Blair, Doug Howlett, Tana Umaga, Keith Lowen, Jonah Lomu, Carlos Spencer, Steve Devine, Joe McDonnell, Andrew Hore, Kees Meeuws, Ali Williams, Keith Robinson, Taine Randell (capt), Marty Holah, Sam Broomhall.

Substitutes: Keven Mealamu, Carl Hayman, Brad Mika, Rodney So'oialo, Danny Lee, Andrew Mehrtens, Mark Robinson.

 

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