Defeat fails to dampen Perry

The Wolverhampton-born scrum half enjoyed a Roy of the Rovers style England debut, running half the length of Twickenham to score against the mighty All Blacks yesterday.

And not even a final scoreline of 41-20 to the tourists - a record defeat for England at home - could take the smile off the 28-year-old former Dudley Kingswinford scrum half's face.

England were already trailing 35-12 when Perry, who was still playing part-time rugby 16 months ago before leaving Coventry for Premiership Bristol, intercepted Aaron Mauger's attempted chip over the England defence.

And he delighted Twickenham's largest ever crowd - 82,076 - by racing in to score England's third try of the afternoon.

"I was overwhelmed, excited and thrilled to be part of the England set up running out in front of 82,000 people," said Perry. "The atmosphere was awesome.

"Only 16 months ago I was still playing part time rugby and welding for a living so it was beyond my wildest dreams. It was awesome and unbelievable.

"If I'm being honest when I intercepted the ball I thought there was a long way to go but I just wanted to get there because I'm not that quick.

"It was a pretty long way but I just wanted to get there and thankfully I did.

"To win my first cap and score was a dream come true but now I want to look forward. Now I've had a taste I'm hoping to be involved in the 30 man squad for next weekend's game with Argentina."

Perry has come a long way since his emergence through the ranks at DK and was pleased with the way he took to international rugby against the world's current top ranked team.

"I got selected on the back of my performances for Bristol and I just tried to take it out there and hopefully I did," he said.

"It is a step up from the Premiership but I wouldn't say the pace took me by surprise.

"It hits you as soon as you train with the squad because the pace of the game picks up.

"The fact I was going to play for England hit me as soon as I got selected but then you're in the mixer and you just have to get on with it.

"I'm relieved that my first cap is out of the way and now I just want to get some more.

"It was hard but I enjoyed it and I was pleased with the way I played.

"I made a few errors to start with because of nerves but my passing was good and I really enjoyed it."

And Perry is sure his try scoring exploits on the day he became DK's first ever England international went down well at Heathbrook where his old team mates gathered to watch the game on a big screen.

"I suppose there was plenty of jumping up and down and I expect the boys will send me a few texts later just to let me know," he added.

England head coach Andy Robinson singled out Perry and fellow debutants Anthony Allen and Paul Sackey out for special praise after England were well beaten by the All Blacks, for whom fly-half Dan Carter racked up a personal haul of 26 points in a blinding display.

"We all know what Shaun has been like because we've seen the way he's performed at club level for Bristol," said Robinson.

"He made the step up against a world class No 9 in Byron Kelleher. He and the other new caps have to be pleased with their performance." Carter kicked New Zealand into an early lead before England controversially had a Jamie Noon try ruled out by the television referee.

A second Carter penalty was followed by a converted Mauger try, before Noon finally got England on the scoreboard by bursting on to Allen's bouncing pass to score.

But the All Blacks all but wrapped up victory with 15 points in the final two minutes of the first half as a Carter penalty was followed by tries from Joe Rokocoko and Carl Hayman after England turned over possession.

Ben Cohen's converted try gave England hope which was quickly extinguished when Carter converted his own score after brushing off Allen's attempted tackle.

Perry then made his mark before being replaced after a bout of cramp, only for Carter to put the seal on the All Blacks' win with two late penalties.