The England touring party was in a state of shock last night after Danny Grewcock was in effect thrown out of their tour of the southern hemisphere by a judicial committee made up of two New Zealanders and an Australian. The Saracens lock was banned for five weeks after being sent off for allegedly kicking the All Black hooker Anton Oliver on the head during Saturday's abrasive first Test at Carisbrook.
In sharp contrast Ian Jones, the New Zealand lock, got off scotfree after being cited by the match commissioner for allegedly kicking England's Graham Rowntree on the head. The three-man Sanzar committee ruled that there was no case to answer. England will consider lodging an appeal against the severity of Grewcock's ban after they have read the judicial report today.
There was further possible bad news after reports of a fight yesterday morning involving the England and New Zealand hookers Richard Cockerill and Norm Hewitt. They are reported to have been seen trading punches outside an hotel.
The England management seems certain to launch a full-scale investigation today when Cockerill will be asked for his account of the incident. However, the England media liaison officer Martin Johnson believes it was a play-fight.
To round off a black weekend for England, notwithstanding their bravely competitive performance with 14 men, the coach Clive Woodward returned home to attend the funeral of his father, who died on Saturday. It is hoped he will return to Auckland in time for next Saturday's second Test at Eden Park. His private grief certainly puts an acrimonious weekend in perspective as England prepare for tomorrow's game against the Maoris in Rotorua.
England's manager Roger Uttley declared that his squad was "distressed and upset" by the "harsh manner" in which Grewcock had been dealt with by the judicial committee when Jones had been let off without even a reprimand. "Nevertheless we are here to play rugby and we must not lose focus on the game," he said.
Uttley's pragmatic spirit may help to defuse the explosive war of words that followed a highly physical Test in which New Zealand scored nine tries - against three by England - only after Grewcock was dismissed in the 31st minute. Woodward was justifiably incensed by the bizarre behaviour of the All Blacks' coach John Hart, who spoke to the referee Wayne Erickson of Australia outside his dressing-room at halftime about how best to manage the scrum.
Not without reason, the England coach also accused Erickson of "show-boating and refereeing the game appallingly". The All Blacks persistently stood offside in tandem and joined rucks on the English side, committing penalty offences which the Australian official mostly ignored.
More serious perhaps was the weight given by the judicial committee to Erickson's oral evidence at the four-hour hearing. The referee insisted on Grewcock's culpability even though the video did not show that the England lock's boot make contact with Oliver's head.
Erickson described Ian Jones's footwork on Rowntree's head - which was revealed clearly on video - as "legitimate rucking".
Astonishingly Hart appeared not to believe that any ethical issue was involved in chatting up the official without anyone else present. His explanation that he wanted "to depower the scrum for safety reasons" was not validated by Erickson.
Recriminations on both sides overshadowed a courageous rearguard action by the depleted England team, who could easily have fallen apart under intense All Black pressure and conceded 100 points. Instead England, cleverly marshalled by their captain Matt Dawson and spearheaded up front by Cockerill, Steve Ojomoh and Ben Clarke, maintained coherent shape and continued to play constructive football, scoring two excellent tries in the last 10 minutes.
Scorers: New Zealand: Tries: Cullen 2, Lomu, Randell 2, Wilson 2, Kronfeld, Mayerhofler. Conversions: Mehrtens 5. Penalties: Mehrtens 3. England: Tries: Cockerill, Dawson, Beim. Conversions: Stimpson 2. Penalty: Stimpson.
New Zealand: Cullen (Wellington); Wil- son (Otago), Mayerhofler (Canterbury), Little (North Harbour), Lomu (Counties); Mehrtens (Canterbury), Tonu'u (Auckland); M Robinson, (North Harbour); Dowd (Auckland), Oliver (Otago), Brown, Brooke (both Auckland), Jones (North Harbour), Jones (Auckland); Blackadder, (Canterbury, 20 minutes), Randell (capt), Kronfeld (both Otago).
England: Perry (Bath); Stimpson (Leicester), Beal (Northampton), Lewsey (Bristol), Healey (Leicester); Wilkinson (Newcastle); Beim, (Sale, 43), Dawson (Northampton, capt); Rowntree (Leicester), Cockerill (Leicester); Greening, (Gloucester, 58), Vickery (Gloucester); Green, (Wasps, 58), Archer (Newcastle); Sims (Gloucester, 77), Grewcock (Saracens), Clarke (Richmond), Ojomoh (Gloucester), Sanderson (Sale).
Referee: W Erickson (Australia).
