England 16 New Zealand 26: England have plenty to build on as the All Blacks start to wane

For New Zealand, although collecting a 16th win in 17 games, this was a further erosion of their aura of invincibility, begun by Australia last week and a hark back to World Cup cycles of old when their dominance gradually wanes as the defining tournament draws closer.

Contrastingly, England, for whom the scoreboard will point to a ninth successive defeat against New Zealand, can take plenty of encouragement from a rousing second-half fightback against the top ranked team in the world that suggests their win against Australia in Sydney in June will not be another false dawn.

Had it not been for a mad four minutes midway through the first half when New Zealand scored their two tries, capitalising on a rusty opening from a home side that had not played since defeating the Wallabies in their own back yard, England might have had a smaller deficit to claw back in the second half.

The video referee did not help either, with the decisions for two controversial tries going the way of the All Blacks; firstly when the Italian in the booth, Guilio De Santis, adjudged Hosea Gear's 17th-minute touchdown as good, and then in the same corner an hour later when he ruled Shontayne Hape – the former Bradford Bull – had lost control of the ball under contact as he stretched to touch down.

Had either decision gone England's way, Dan Carter and company would have been a lot more nervous in those closing stages as the white shirts drove forward with a frenzied mix of purpose and desperation. Had both gone England's way, the 80,350 inside Twickenham could have been celebrating a landmark victory.

England can point to such fine margins, and the fact that other than Kieran Read's pushover try on 21 minutes, the New Zealand who were scoring tries for fun in the Tri Nations series, rarely got close to the whitewash again.

Where defence coach Mike Ford's plan gained relative success in stifling Graham Henry's attacking runners who at times in the first half made it look like a swarm of bees circling the Red Rose, England's Achilles heel was in presenting the deadly Carter with so many kicks at goal.

He booted four of his five penalty attempts and also converted the two tries to give the All Blacks a victory that was deserved, but by no means comfortable.

Another plus was an England squad comprising two Leeds Carnegie players with Steve Thompson starting at hooker and Hendre Fourie making his debut from the bench, two Tykes old boys in Danny Care and Tom Palmer, two Yorkshiremen in Mike Tindall and Charlie Hodgson, and the former rugby league winger of Odsal fame, Hape.

England were dominant in the scrum and their back three operated with energy and purpose, particularly Ben Foden at full-back and Chris Ashton on the wing.

Mark Cueto was there to bail out his over-enthusiastic colleagues when the marauding Gear burst down the left early on and slipped a weak tackle by Foden. Nick Easter took England into the opposition 22 with a quick-tap penalty moments after Carter's only aberration with the boot, but the supporting Ashton was shackled.

England were narrow early on as they struggled to gain a foothold and were exposed brutally by the pace and verve of the All Blacks.

From a midfield lineout, the ball was quickly switched to the left thanks to a bulldozing break by Read which allowed Gear the space on the left to storm into. He touched down under pressure from Ashton but the try was ruled good, and soon Gear met little resistance as he crashed over.

It was looking ominous for England but Flood kicked them onto the scoreboard before a battering drive came up just short. Carter restored the two-try advantage before Foden was denied a try with the last action of the half after quick recycling from scrum-half Ben Youngs.

Flood and Carter traded penalties at the start of the second half before England's try got the Twickenham crowd to their feet. Tindall and Foden set up Flood in midfield and his kick sent Ashton scampering through and, although he was tackled, replacement hooker and New Zealand-born Dylan Hartley was in support to charge over. Flood converted from the sideline and it was game on.

However, two penalties from Carter after a rucking offence and then a cynical high tackle from Delon Armitage, either side of another Flood three-pointer, helped keep the buoyant hosts at bay.

By now, Fourie was on and he did most of his work in opposition territory as England, aided by Jerome Kaino's sin-binning, surged forward. But the closest they came was Hape's ruled-out effort.

"I tried to get as low as I could and if I was 6ft 4in I'd have got it," rued Hape. "There was only a matter of inches in it and I was hoping for the benefit of the doubt."

England: Foden, Ashton, Tindall, Hape, Cueto (Armitage 68), Flood, Youngs (Care 72); Sheridan (Wilson 58), Thompson (Hartley 51), Cole, Lawes, Palmer (Attwood 64), Croft, Moody (Fourie 66), Easter. Unused replacements: Hodgson.

New Zealand: Mulianina, Rokocoko (Toeava 58), Williams, Nonu, Gear, Carter, Mathewson (Ellis 51); Woodcock, Mealamu, Franks (Afoa 75), Thorn, Whitelock (Boric 68), Kaino, McGraw, Read. Unused replacements: Elliot, Messam, Donald.

Referee: R Poite (France).

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Chris Ashton

The former Wigan Warriors rugby league player at least looked more awake than his team-mates in that poor opening 20 minutes. Tackled ferociously and was a constant threat with ball in hand.

Villain: Dan Carter

Give him enough chances and he will kick you to defeat, which is exactly what this massive influence on the game did.

Key moment

21st minute: There were many turning points but Kieran Read's try gave the All Blacks a 14-point lead they never surrendered.

Ref Watch

Romain Poite could have sent an All Black to the bin sooner than the 72nd minute.

Verdict

England corner the market in gallant defeats, but there is genuine optimism.

Next game

England v Australia, Saturday, 2.30pm, Twickenham.

Quote of the day

I belted that anthem out as if it was my own. I've never been as nervous before a game.