Why is captain replaced so early?

SO THE All Blacks keep their home record of wins at Dunedin by just one point against an England side who will be wondering what might have been.

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There have been a few 'if only we had' in the press and on social media pointing to Marcus Smith's off day from the kicking tee however Damian McKenzie wasn't on his best kicking form for New Zealand either, and was actually timed out for one kick and missed a few other opportunities.

In some ways it would have been better had England lost by a bigger margin making it easier for coach Steve Borthwick to identify the areas that he needs to focus on and make positive changes.

Generally it was a good day for England with one of the best individual performances by an England player coming from a 'New Zealander' in Chandler Cunningham-South, who came back to play for the country of his birth and gave a performance that will make the All Blacks wish they had hung on to him.

Having grown up in New Zealand from the age of four and played for North Harbour U18 and Canterbury U19, he joined the London Irish academy in February 2022 making his Premiership debut in May that year which started him on the pathway to the England team.

Unfortunately for England the early injury to Joe Marler last Saturday, which saw him leave the field, impacted on the team's game plan with England failing to have the stable set piece at the scrum that they were seeking.