“Come on, Jamie!” the Hertford RFC faithful shouted as England’s hooker received the ball in the opening minute. Chuckles followed seconds later as Jamie George found himself with ball in hand on the wing. The laughter was misplaced, Manu Tuilagi crossing for an early try.
The town of Ware may conjure up images of an Abbott and Costello routine but England’s performance was nothing of the sort On a blustery morning, about 130 fans wearing England jerseys of every vintage trekked to the rugby club to watch one of their own take on the All Blacks and win.
It may have been 9am but among the coffees and bacon rolls were a few pints of something stronger. None for the first XV, who were elsewhere