England vs. New Zealand: Winners and Losers from Twickenham

New Zealand recorded a fourth straight win over England this calendar year, sending Stuart Lancaster and his men home frustrated.

England did a lot right, beginning the game with all the initiative but some costly errors meant they couldn’t capitalise on their dominance in that opening period.

New Zealand made them pay and now march on, with England needing to recover quickly in time for the physical challenge South Africa will bring next week.

Here are the winners and losers.

Brown had a decent game other than bombing a certain try that would have doubled England’s early lead.

Finishing has been a long-standing issue for England. When you are up against the best team in the world, missing chances like that one for Brown inevitably costs you dear.

New Zealand didn’t create a large number of chances, but the ones they did fashion were taken ruthlessly.

Has someone, somewhere, got a cupboard full of fresh Richie McCaws?

The New Zealand captain continues to look as fresh and as brilliant as ever.

He was a menace at the breakdown throughout the afternoon and added his 25th try of an astonishing international career.

New Zealand, like their fearless leader, can do it all, and you sense they will continue to do so for as long as McCaw shows them the way.

Sonny Bill Williams made his second code-hop look as effortless as he had the first time, slotting back into the New Zealand midfield with ease.

He ran great angles, tackled with aggression and we saw some of those deft offloads so hard to defend against.

England fans have now seen firsthand how well a rugby league player with such wonderful natural talent can play either code and will be hoping Sam Burgess was watching, too.

Bath’s second row looked born for international rugby.

He was excellent at the line-out and carried the ball well, a task that became even more important once Courtney Lawes had been forced off.

Not bad for a bloke who welcomed his daughter into the world just three days ago.

Joe Launchbury may find it far from straightforward to slot back into the team when fit.

As the rain came lashing down on the Twickenham turf, you knew the game would turn into more of a close-quarters arm wrestle in the second half.

Here we saw the other world-class side to this New Zealand team.

For over 20 phases they channeled the spirit of the best Munster sides of the last decade and used their piano shifters to inch forward, choking the life from England who could do nothing but tackle themselves to a standstill.

Eventually, those inches added up to a try-scoring chance and Charlie Faumuina took it.

What a try.

Scores like Jonny May’s first international try don’t come along at the highest level very often.

His raw speed saw him burn off Conrad Smith and outflank Israel Dagg as Twickenham rose, roaring, to its feet.

It was every bit as good as Jason Robinson's for the Lions in 2001.

New Zealand’s hooker reacted in petulant—and somewhat cowardly—fashion to being held in at a ruck by Dylan Hartley, who is himself no candidate for sainthood.

Coles lashed out with a stamp that landed on Danny Care's ankle and rightly received a yellow card.

He may well have afforded himself a smile while serving his time; his side won that 10-minute spell 3-0.

The All Blacks missed three conversions and two penalties from eight shots on goal, per the Telegraph.

They were lucky, in that sense, that Owen Farrell also had a wayward day, missing the conversion for Jonny May’s try and fluffing an eminently-kickable drop goal.

Beauden Barrett’s miss in the second half stands out as the most heinous of the afternoon. The wet conditions were no excuse from the angle and distance he had to contend with.