But in the end it was the All Blacks who triumphed

But in the end it was the All Blacks who triumphed.
“Everyone in the dressing-room is disappointed,” the coach Clive Woodward admitted afterwards “They really felt they could have won. There were some epic struggles on the unfamiliar turf of Old Trafford, and some Herculean efforts, notably on the part of a more solid-looking England pack. At Old Trafford it was as if Ryan Giggs was regularly missing from the penalty spot.. It was difficult, amid the back-slapping, the hysterical cheering and the lap of honour by the players who wanted to show their appreciation of the amazing support for a brave England performance, to remember that Lawrence Dallaglio’s men had lost to New Zealand. If a cat can look at a king, can Mike Catt ever look like Alex King, Clive Woodward’s first choice? Catt did some fine things but the fact remains that, at goal, it looked as if he was kicking a fur ball. You can put your mortgage on Cullen beating at least one in whatever position but the biggest criticism of him, as when he was tackled in full flight by Mike Catt, is that the ball remains under his arm and is not kept alive.Perry, who is even younger, was almost faultless. Perhaps it is asking too much of a 21-year-old to be infallible but Cullen’s refusal to do what nearly every other full-back in the world has always done, think defensively when in defence, cannot be criticised from the terraces.When he took what appeared to be a near suicidal reverse pass a few yards from his own line very early in the game, he didn’t kick to touch – he beat two men.

He was too hesitant and too slow in thought and deed.Which brings us to the England stand-off. If England paid a huge penalty for not having a professional goal-kicker, this was one Test where the All Blacks clearly missed their captain, Sean Fitzpatrick.Not only did Norm Hewitt, Fitzpatrick’s replacement, make a complete fool of himself in the haka but Marshall, leading the side, had a most frustrating afternoon. On the one occasion England worked him clear, he hesitated slightly and looked for support, something that would never have crossed Cullen’s mind.Perry also produced a try- saving tackle on Justin Marshall. His positional play was excellent as was his handling, kicking and tackling. There was also a measure of the footballing talent of Matt Perry that he lost nothing in comparison to Christian Cullen. The heat was on in the kitchen and the Cullenary skills of the player regarded as the fullest of fullbacks, produced morsels but not the main course.
Professional sport is in the entertainment business and the All Blacks realise that Cullen is one of their men with the hat and cane.

The future’s bright. The future’s white? New Zealand, for the first time on this tour, looked more grey than All Black but it is still a measure of the reputation of the side that England regarded this defeat as a moral victory. Next week’s side confronting teams from South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, is strong – witness the presence of Justin Cassell of Northampton – but contains no big names “The game’s changed,” said Griffiths “Clubs are reluctant to let their players go. We’ll never have trouble getting players but we might never have their like again.” But it is still a long, long way from the White Hart to Dubai.. The landlord, Doug Page, whose interests once lay more in cricket and football, is unchanged; the place is their spiritual home.Jeremy Guscott, Dewi Morris, Lawrence Dallaglio and John Sleightholme have all played Their successors may be hard to find.

Not so.They have come too far to be known as the White Hart Marauders in foreign tournaments these days. They have won in Amsterdam, in Lisbon and in Dubai and have appeared in the Hong Kong Tens final three times.The pub may no longer feature in their name – except when they appear in the National Pub Sevens Tournament which they have won five times in a row – but the triumvirate still meet there twice a week. Wints told him he couldn’t do that and he’d have to make contact himself.”Not long after, we were in the pub and the phone went It was for Fred The voice at the other end explained it was Will speaking ‘Will who,’ said Fred ‘Will Carling,’ said the voice. ‘Oh yes and what do you want?’ asked Fred.”Nor was it all smooth running for Carling when he was eventually enlisted. In the 1991 Amsterdam Sevens he failed to get on in the final which the Marauders won. It is generally thought that the 1993 British Lions were the first team to drop Carling.

Carling liked the sound of it and asked Wints to get him on board. They became the Marauders because it was a name as near to the Barbarians – whose ethos they were attempting to follow at sevens – as they could find.”The signing of Will Carling was probably our greatest coup,” Griffiths said. “Peter Winterbottom had gone back to Harlequins after one Marauders trip and told Will what a time he had. We were playing to win but we had fun as well.”The White Hart boys, who drew most of their players from the Camberley club at first, entertained the crowd and their opponents who were encouraged by their antics to have a chat. Before long they wanted to play for the oddball team who wore fancy dress, indulged in half-time sumo wrestling but still played a hard game.They began attracting international players Peter Winterbottom was among the first and most influential Others were to follow.