England came close to a memorable upset against New Zealand this afternoon at Twickenham but despite leading midway through the second half the hosts were undone by a New Zealand side that will arrive in Dublin next week with their aura of invincibility only enhanced.

New Zealand began the game by breaching the English defences inside the first two minutes. Superb handling from Kieran Read set up Julian Savea for a simple finish and Dan Carter added the conversion.

Dan Carter added another penalty before Read crossed the line himself in the 16^th minute to leave England facing an almost impossible prospect as the trailed 17-3. The response was admirable, however, and by the 23^rd minute the deficit had been halved as Joe Launchbury crossed the line, with Owen Farrell converting.

On 25 minutes New Zealand suffered a blow with the exit of Dan Carter, as the fly-half was substituted on his 100^th test appearance with what appeared to be a leg injury.

Carter’s replacement Aaron Cruden added 3 to the All Blacks total to make it 20-10. From that point however the English revival began, with Owen Farrell hitting 4 unanswered penalties to put England 22-20 ahead with just over 20 minutes of the game left.

An immediate response from the tourists meant English happiness didn’t last for long, and savea crossed for his second try of the game just 3 minutes after Farrell put England ahead.

Another Cruden penalty put the All Blacks up by 30-22 and at least two scores ahead of the hosts but it proved to be more than the needed buffer as they held firm and saw out the final few minutes with relative ease.