RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011 GROUP
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The All Blacks rumble on and poor old England stumble on, though at least Martin Johnson's men were able to make a lot more of a game of it at Twickenham today than their critics were predicting.

In the end the All Blacks, still playing as though they've left their handbrake on, were comfortable 19-6 winners as they kept alive a couple of remarkable records in these autumn internationals.

They still haven't lost in one of these November test matches since Graham Henry took charge in 2004, and they kept their line intact for another international in a run which stretches back to 2006. Defensively, these All Blacks are right on top of their game.

The same can't quite be said of the black attack, which once again managed just one try in 80 minutes of rugby, and despite a succession of promising raids, the final pass or the key break just couldn't be made. Once again you were left with a suspicion that despite their success, these New Zealanders still have a long way to go on the improvement chart.

Still, this is test rugby. And as the All Blacks told us in the buildup, it's about winning first and foremost. By doing so with a degree of comfort today the New Zealanders not only retained the Hillary Shield but left English rugby with another week of naval-gazing.

You suspect it won't be as bad, or as mad, as it was post last week's 16-9 win over Argentina, for the English contributed plenty to a pretty competitive test match. But they really were a distant second in this contest and their limitations on attack were once again severely exposed.

Apart from one break from a messy scrum in the second half by Tom Croft, the English never really looked like scoring.

Still, at least they weren't booed by their own fans this week. And that might be the only consolation Johnson and his men take from a match that was mostly about respect for them, rather than any real chance of winning.

On a milestone occasion, with Mils Muliaina becoming the second most capped All Black of all time and Dan Carter passing Andrew Mehrtens as the greatest points-scorer in All Black history, the New Zealanders had it all to play for.

Muliaina responded with a splendid match too, with the fullback joining his skipper Richie McCaw as the outstanding figure on the park. The All Black No 15 was a constant attacking threat, and looked back to his best. Zac Guildford also had another promising test over on the right wing, where he very much won his individual battle with Ugo Monye.

Up front the All Black scrum had a wobble or two, the lineout functioned smoothly again and Kieran Red weighed in with another strong test at No 8.

Still, if you had read the British press in the buildup to this fourth test of the All Blacks' tour, the New Zealanders had only to arrive at Twickenham to maintain their perfect record on this trip.

The English, their critics reckoned, were so out of sorts, bereft of either the nous or the skills to break down the All Blacks, that it was thought it wouldn't be so much a game as a shame.

A week earlier the English had been booed off Twickenham at halftime by their own fans when the scores were locked at 9-9 against Argentina, but seven days later they got a much more wholesome reception as they jogged off locked at 6-6 and very much in this encounter with an All Blacks side still searching for its attacking A game.

England lost Joe Worsley in just the third minute with an ankle injury, but the early disruption didn't appear to affect Johnson's men to any great degree as they managed to stifle the All Blacks attacking game through the opening quarter.

After Carter missed a handy early penalty attempt – the Kiwi sharpshooter had a pretty average first half with the boot by his high standards – Jonny Wilkinson made no mistake with his opening penalty a little after a quarter of an hour of action.

And that's how the scoring played out for the half. Carter drew the All Blacks level, Wilkinson nudg

The All Blacks agree test rugby desperately needs an open, flowing match when then meet England on Sunday after a series of kick-dominated snoozefests.

As assistant coach Steve Hansen confirmed the All Blacks would select their strongest starting 15 at Twickenham -- which would mean up to a dozen changes -- he lamented the current state of test rugby.

Despite an electric atmosphere at a packed San Siro, the second-string All Blacks beat Italy 20-6 on Saturday in a slugfest dominated by kicks, penalties, scrum resets and some basic errors from both sides.

England's 16-9 win over Argentina at the same time at Twickenham was a poor spectacle and led to scathing criticism of the home side and coach Martin Johnson from the British press.

Former England lock Paul Ackford wrote England appeared a side "lacking ambition, direction and leadership".

Hansen again pointed to the current laws, which encouraged a kickfest, that were doing rugby no favours as a spectacle.

"At the moment kicking has overtaken the game. They tried to change all the rules and halfway through the process they decided to play differently up here," Hansen said as the All Blacks arrived in London.

"They didn't want to play some of them so we've got a hybrid type of game and it's ended up with everyone kicking. They probably need to bring the mark back anywhere on the field, then you can't kick it.

"They've always played differently up here, too, and we've just got to accept that.

"But I think the game of rugby needs a good game; not necessarily just a battle up front but some good ball movement and some good tries."

Hansen conceded his side were not immune to an over-reliance on kicking.

He admitted the All Blacks relied on a safety-first approach in their past two test wins over Wales and Italy, which made it six consecutive northern hemisphere tests where they had not conceded a try.

"Sometimes you've got to kick the ball because of the defences and the kicking game is part of opening it up for later on. We probably have been guilty of kicking too much."

With that in mind it will be interesting what tactics All Blacks first five-eighth Dan Carter adopts as he returns from a one-match ban for a dangerous high tackle in a rematch with England pivot Jonny Wilkinson.

Hansen observed the criticism of England and Johnson, but predicted they might try to open the game up.

"They'll obviously take us on up front, they're a big pack and Wilkinson will kick them around the park, but I think they'll run the ball a bit more than those other two sides we've played.

"We always respect them. Twickenham's not an easy place to play and England are a proud side.

"We've all copped our bit of flak this year and we've managed to bounce back from it so I'm sure they're capable of doing the same thing."

The All Blacks will not be named until Thursday morning (NZT) and while their lineup should be reasonably predictable, most interest will surround who starts at No 6 between Adam Thomson and Jerome Kaino, which of Tom Donnelly or Jason Eaton will partner lock Brad Thorn, and whether Zac Guildford, so impressive on his debut against Wales, gets another chance on the wing.

Hansen said the selectors got a good look at their entire 33-man squad in the first three weeks of the tour, as was the aim, and would revert to the "tried and true".

From the starting 15 in Milan, prop Neemia Tialata, Donnelly, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Cory Jane are the only potential survivors.