New Zealand beat England 19-6 in a hard-fought encounter here at Twickenham on Saturday that saw Dan Carter become the All Blacks' leading international points scorer.

Although this was the All Blacks' eighth win in a row over England they did not pull away until just before the hour mark with scrum-half Jimmy Cowan's converted try putting the visitors 16-6 up.

Jonny Wilkinson kicked all of England's points in a match where they did not score at all in the second half.

But this was a much-improved England side from the one that struggled to beat Argentina 16-9 last week.

And the way in which they concluded a November campaign that started with an 18-9 loss to Australia appeared to give under-pressure manager Martin Johnson some breathing space.

England, despite fears they might be submerged under an All Black tide, having lost last year's corresponding fixture 32-6, ended the first-half all square at 6-6.

Wilkinson kicked two penalties for England and rival fly-half Carter two for New Zealand although the All Black ace, returning after missing last week's 20-6 win over Italy through suspension, was off-target with two kicks that were within his range.

"It was tough but we are happy to get a win at Twickenham," Carter told Sky Sports. "It is never easy and there are certainly parts of our game we need to improve on."

He added: "Defensively we were very sound. But in terms of our attacking ability we have got to hold onto the ball more and build the phases."

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was delighted, telling reporters: "I'm very happy, that was our best game on tour. Every time we play England it is a tough game, especially at Twickenham."

Johnson said he felt "mixed emotions," telling reporters. "We could have been in it, their try was disappointing. We won last week but now people seem happier we've lost."

The 2003 World Cup winning captain added: "We are further on from where we were last year and at the Six Nations.

England began with far greater snap than against the Pumas, openside flanker Lewis Moody leading the way by putting pressure on Carter and nearly charging down a couple of kicks by the No 10.

The hosts did suffer a setback when recalled blindside flanker Joe Worsley went off injured in the third minute.

But England continued to run the ball far more than they did last week.

They were almost rewarded with a try in the 12th minute after the All Blacks lost possession in their own 22 but South African referee Jonathan Kaplan ruled England wing Ugo Monye had knocked on before crossing the line.

Then, seven minutes later, New Zealand came close to a try of their own when superb sleight of hand from Carter created space on the left.

Full-back Mils Muliaina went for the corner, ignoring the support of wing Sitiveni Sivivatu but was forced into touch by the covering Monye just before the ball was grounded.

Another Carter penalty early in the second half gave New Zealand the lead for the first time in the match at 9-6.

New Zealand were several times guilty of over-elaboration but their pressure eventually told in the 57th minute when a blindside break by Sivivatu was carried on by star flanker Richie McCaw, the man-of-the-match.

The All Blacks captain's pass to Cowan appeared forward but the officials saw nothing wrong and he went in at the corner.

Carter added the difficult conversion before his fourth penalty extended the All Blacks' lead to 13 points.

Earlier, Carter missed his first goalkick but, with his second, broke Andrew Mehrtens's all-time New Zealand points record of 967.

That meant Carter, playing in his 65th Tests, had broken the record in five fewer matches than the 70-times capped Mehrtens.

New Zealand's tour continues with next week's Test against France in Marseille.

"They are playing extremely well," said Carter, who had a brief spell with French side Perpignan. "It will be good to be back in France playing against a couple of old team-mates.

AFP

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