England's heart-warming performance against the All Blacks has been soured badly by the blatant act of thuggery by Martin Johnson that compelled the England management to impose a one-match ban on the Leicester lock and instruct him to make a full apology.
Had England not taken swift disciplinary action against Johnson for a punch to Justin Marshall's jaw, the New Zealand management would have cited him for foul play within the stipulated 24 hours.
To their credit, Clive Woodward, the England coach, and Roger Uttley, the manager, did not procrastinate and banned Johnson from Saturday's international against South Africa at Twickenham. Woodward explained: "Roger and I have watched the match video and believe the allegations against Martin Johnson are founded. Martin has accepted responsibility and he will be making a full apology."
John Hart, the New Zealand coach, was so upset by the off-the-ball incident, which live television commentators failed to identify, that he could not bring himself to speak out about it until 90 minutes after the game ended.
Marshall, the All Blacks captain and scrum-half, admitted his hearing had been temporarily impaired by the sixth-minute punch which was delivered to the side of his jaw and from the rear. At the time he did not realise Johnson was the culprit.
"I saw it happen clearly and I was incensed," said Hart. "The player who did it has enough experience to know better. It could have broken the captain's jaw and put him out for the rest of the tour. It was an act of thuggery that back home would normally be dealt with by the citing commissioner. I have always taken a strong stand on dirty play. I put a lot of emphasis on discipline."
Johnson, who is four stones heavier and eight-and-a-half inches taller than Marshall, was also spotted throwing a punch during last season's Five Nations Championship game against Wales, an offence that prompted the referee subsequently to disallow a try by Will Carling.
That incident did not prevent the Leicester forward becoming the Lions captain for last summer's tour to South Africa, but the punch on Marshall could well terminate his prospects of taking over as England's skipper should Lawrence Dallaglio fail to prosper in the role.
This decade, games involving the All Blacks and English sides have acquired a certain edge of violence that sometimes gives rise to angry recriminations. After the 1993 Test at Twickenham, which England won 15-9, the New Zealand forward Jamie Joseph was banned for stamping on Kyran Bracken's ankle: earlier in the same tour, Phil de Glanville, while playing at centre for the South-West division, was raked by a New Zealand boot at the bottom of a ruck, an incident that required 15 stitches in an eye wound.
Unfortunately for England, the loss of Johnson, a veteran of 33 internationals, is bound to damage their prospects of overcoming the Springboks whose spectacular Test series triumph in France underlines the fact that they are now playing their best football since the 1995 World Cup.
Saracens' Danny Grewcock, who was capped in Argentina last summer, looks certain to be in the side when it is named on Wednesday after warming the bench for the past two Saturdays.
Woodward will probably make further changes if Tony Diprose and Adedayo Adebayo, who were both substituted because of minor injuries, fail to prove their fitness. Mike Catt drew heavy criticism for his inept goalkicking - he missed three short-range penalties and a conversion - but the Bath out-half was a pillar of strength in defence, making many important tackles, and also showed plenty of fire in attack. Alex King, Woodward's original choice at number 10, is still unfit.
In any case, there was not a great deal wrong with England's committed performance that a bit of fine tuning among the three-quarters would not put right. By the later stages of this passionate and absorbing contest, Dallaglio's men had the All Blacks on the back foot, but England's option-taking in midfield was not incisive enough to produce additional scores after Catt and Austin Healey had fashioned an excellent try for De Glanville.
Dallaglio, in his second game as skipper, proved he is a world-class flanker and an inspirational leader whose unrelenting example can bring the best out of his teammates.
Richard Cockerill and Darren Garforth stabilised the scrum, Garath Archer again showed a prodigious work-rate in the second row - as did Johnson - and Richard Hill was a powerhouse on the open-side. When Neil Back replaced the injured Diprose at half-time, England's rejigged back-row merely moved into a higher gear.
Had England not conceded two soft tries by Ian Jones and Jeff Wilson in the first quarter, when they were giving the All Blacks too much respect, not to mention space, there could have been the makings of an upset of heroic proportions. In terms of points on the board New Zealand never came under genuine pressure - Taine Randell's short-range try on the hour put them 22-3 ahead - yet the longer the game went on the more the All Blacks began to fray at the edges and their composure ebbed away.
Little wonder that several All Blacks pointed ironically at the scoreboard as they left the field while England set out on a lap of honour before a euphoric 55,000 crowd. Woodward still has much to learn about the unforgiving business of winning a Test, but at least his unbuttoned outlook and honest-to-goodness enthusiasm have helped put a large dollop of self-belief back into his players; in the wake of a 17-point defeat that is no small achievement.
It will be fascinating to see whether England sustain their psychological edge when they meet New Zealand in the second Test at Twickenham on Saturday week. One suspects the tourists' sangfroid at Old Trafford was shaken from the outset by Cockerill's disruptive behaviour in face of the haka. "Totally disrespectful," complained Hart. Too true, but surely that was what England intended.
England: M Perry (Bath); D Rees (Sale), W Greenwood (Leicester), P De Glanville (Bath), A Adebayo (Bath); M Catt (Bath), K Bracken (Saracens); J Leonard (Harlequins), R Cockerill (Leicester), D Garforth (Leicester), M Johnson (Leicester), G Archer (Newcastle), L Dallaglio (Wasps, capt), R Hill (Saracens), T Diprose (Saracens). Replacements: A Healey (Leicester) for Adebayo (58 mins), N Back (Leicester) for Diprose (half-time).
New Zealand: C Cullen (Manawatu); J Wilson (Otago), F Bunce (North Harbour), A Ieremia (Wellington), J Lomu (Counties); A Mehrtens (Canterbury), J Marshall (Canterbury, capt); C Dowd (Auckland), N Hewitt (Southland), O Brown (Auckland), I Jones (North Harbour), R Brooke (Auckland), T Randell (Otago), J Kronfeld (Otago), Z Brooke (Auckland). Replacements: A Blowers (Auckland) for Z Brooke (52 mins), S McLeod (Waikato) for Ieremia (59 mins), J Preston (Wellington) for Wilson (79 mins).
Referee: P Marshall (Australia).
Guardian Service
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