Take a bow, Eddie: Genius Jones scripts mighty All Blacks' downfall

Eddie Jones, you are an absolute genius.

The former Wallabies boss has helped England pull off an incredible 19-7 Rugby World Cup semi-final win over the All Blacks in Yokohama on Saturday.

England, written off by most of the world, motored into a World Cup final for the first time in 12 years with a spellbinding showing in which they totally outclassed a rattled All Blacks outfit in almost every department.

Steve Hansen’s final proper game in charge - New Zealand have a third versus fourth match next week - was an absolute flop as the All Blacks' hopes of winning three World Cups in a row were blown up in smoke at the hands of an England side whose poise and defence was nothing short of heroic.

"They’ve won two World Cups in a row and they have been a great team so we had to dig really deep to beat them," Jones said. "I’m excited for the boys, they’ve worked really hard to get where they are. We’ve just got another week in the comp now mate. We know we can play better next week and we're going to have to."

"We had to take it to them ... and put them on the back foot as much as we could."

After what they witnessed on Saturday evening, few Australian fans would be against the idea of Jones coming back in to take charge of the Wallabies.

Dominant: England celebrate their upset over New Zealand at International Yokohama Stadium.Credit: AP

He is clearly a far more well-rounded coach than when he was sacked in 2005 and no doubt the drums will beat louder for him in the coming days after England’s brilliant win, their first over the All Blacks at a World Cup.

Jones did it in 2003 with the Wallabies in a famous 22-10 semi-final victory over the Kiwis and 16 years on helped England cruise to the big dance by exactly the same margin.

"No loss is easy to take," Hansen said. "We played as well as we possibly could we just got beaten by a better team. Heck of a disappointment. They created the go-forward in the game, we struggled to dominate them at set-piece time."

Brains and brawn: Man of the match Maro Itoje is tackled by Nepo Laulala.Credit: Getty

The All Blacks trailed 13-0 in the 57th minute but when replacement Ardie Savea grabbed an overthrown lineout from England hooker Jamie George, just like that New Zealand were back in the hunt.

However, a couple of penalties from George Ford in the 63rd and 69th minutes ensured the northern hemisphere side came good on their promise that they would shock the rugby world and set up a final against either South Africa or Wales depending on who wins on Sunday.

Jones said this week no one believed England could stand up to the mighty All Blacks but that concocted script was thrown in the bin when the men in white crossed the paint after just 96 seconds.

Their metre-eating line-breaking start saw Manu Tuilagi barge over from close range to send a shock through the Kiwi ranks.

The All Blacks were unsettled and set plays were not as polished in the opening matches, leaving a frustrated Hansen scratching his head in the coach's box for one of the few times in his career.

There was concern for England captain Owen Farrell from midway through the first half as he limped around the field. He grimaced and was in a world of pain but soldiered in a seriously courageous 80-minute performance.

Too fast: Ben Youngs kicks on a night of tactical supremacy for England.Credit: Getty

England back-rowers Tom Curry and Sam Underhill were absolutely devastating at the breakdown, with the latter winning a penalty for his side that Ford booted from more than 40 metres out to take a 10-0 lead into half-time.

The breakdown looked like a contest between boys (New Zealand) and men (England).

New Zealand had not been held scoreless in a first half of any Test since 2012. It was that afternoon England registered a famous 38-21 victory.

Digging deeper into the statistics and the All Blacks had not won a Test for 51 years when being held to zero in the opening 40 minutes. The last time they did so was against France in a 9-3 victory in 1968.

Given New Zealand’s knack of sniffing out a minuscule opportunity and making the most of it, this was certainly not the script many thought would play out as New Zealand’s 18-game World Cup winning streak came to a sudden halt.

A huge moment came early in the first half when Ben Youngs was denied a try, which could have put England up by 17 points, because the ball was lost forward in a maul. Had England lost, it could have been the subject of much conjecture but it wasn't to be.

Unstoppable: Manu Tuilagi crashes over early to gain an ascendancy England never relinquished.Credit: AP

New Zealand could have seized on the momentum shift but when replacement Sam Cane took out Billy Vunipola, England booted a penalty to open up a 13-0 lead after 50 minutes.

England had lost all three previous World Cup matches to New Zealand, coming up short by six points (1991), 16 points (1995) and 14 points (1999).

Even before kick-off there was controversy as England players were told to move back when New Zealand were about to begin the haka. Instead of lining up next to one another, they formed a V-shape with Joe Marler on the outside clearly trying to stir the pot by creeping over the halfway line rather close to the All Blacks.

You can bet your bottom dollar that was out of the Jones playbook of unsettling an opponent.

And boy did it work.