Gaps were beginning to appear and with the scorching pace of Cullen and Walter Little the scores had to come. Sure enough, Mehrtens crossed for the simplest of tries and, after the fly-half had kicked his fourth penalty, Little, with a breathtaking burst, went through three defenders to score. England’s defence was coming under mighty pressure as their opponents faced up to the gravity of the situation. Mehrtens began to eat away at England’s lead with three penalties. Even so, England’s position at half- time, although certainly not unassailable, was more than they could ever have hoped for.We knew it would be different in the second half. The All Blacks raised the pace appreciably and it was only a thunderous covering tackle by Hill which kept Norm Hewitt out. Had the world gone mad? Could this be true or was this some dream from which we would soon awake to face harsh reality?It was true all right, and what is more it was to get better with Grayson’s first penalty kick.

Justin Marshall’s constant querying of the referee’s decisions bordered on intimidation and there were other signs of needless petulance More ominously there were also signs of recovery. At this point the All Blacks were entering unfamiliar territory and began to display a less appealing side to their game. Grayson could not convert either but there was the rare sight of the All Blacks bewitched, bothered and totally bewildered.They went into a huddle for an instant bonding session but it did not work. Mehrtens kicked a penalty but England’s contemptuous response was to score again. This time Frank Bunce lost possession and Dallaglio, with a fly hack upfield, held off Lomu of all people to touch down under the posts. Grayson converted this one and 75,000 pairs of eyes stared in astonishment as the scoreboard flashed 17-3 in England’s favour after just 18 minutes.

Before the crowd had settled back on their seats they had scored again. This time Hill was at the end of a move which began with Austin Healey and was carried forward by Will Greenwood. Rees was the embodiment of that in the eighth minute when he fielded Mehrtens’ kick on his own 10-metre line and shook the All Blacks rigid with the speed and determination of his run to the corner. He squeezed in under a couple of covering tackles and England were on their way.

Had the All Blacks scored as the Springboks had done last week so close to half-time England would surely have been powerless to hold out, but now they had a fighting chance.It was a chance that few would have begrudged them. They had shaken the All Blacks to the core with a controlled blend of passion and power. One was Matt Perry’s tackle late in the first half on Andrew Mehrtens. With Christian Cullen running round on the loop for the scoring pass, Perry sent the All Black into orbit and a certain try was saved.