First in best dressed – how England beat the All Blacks

A few weeks back tGL cast an eye over Wales’ courageous attempt at the unexpected in their 33-10 Test defeat against the All Blacks, and applauded their decision to try and swing some pretty lopsided odds (9-1) back in their favour. The plan was simple, engineer a way to get something close to their average Millennium Stadium score against New Zealand (14) on the scoreboard before New Zealand could get anything of theirs (34) in order to pressurise the All Blacks into an altered game plan. However, as risk takers are wont to do on occasion, Wales fell on their sword; a couple of early penalty opportunities weren’t converted into the points their plan needed and they went in at half time 23-0 behind. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen later called their strategy “crazy”.