All Blacks hold off England

London - A ruthless New Zealand gave England a lesson in finishing on Saturday, clinically punishing their error-ridden northern hemisphere rivals to clinch a 26-16 victory at Twickenham.

In a match seen as the first big test of Martin Johnson's emerging England, the All Blacks overcame a fierce second half fightback by the home side to extend their winning streak against the 2003 world champions to nine matches.

Two first-half tries from winger Hosea Gear and number eight Kieran Read ultimately proved decisive for New Zealand, with fly-half Dan Carter contributing the rest of their points with the boot.

Trailing 17-3 at half-time, England clawed their way back into the match with a Dylan Hartley try but were undone by errors at key moments which denied them the opportunity to build momentum and overhaul the All Blacks.

England boss Johnson pinpointed New Zealand's superior finishing as the key difference, saying his team "weren't at the races" as the All Blacks raced into a 14-0 lead midway through the first half.

"We've said for the past two weeks that if you don't start well they're going to hurt you. And they did," Johnson said.

"To go from 14-0 down to give ourselves a shot was good. But the difference is who scores when they get the opportunities - they got two chances and took them. We had chances and didn't. That's the difference."

"As a team we weren't at the races quickly enough."

All Blacks coach Graham Henry was relieved his team had managed to get back to winning ways after last week's agonising last-gasp loss to Australia in Hong Kong.

"I'm delighted that we won. It's always a hard battle at Twickenham. Every time we play here it's a hard slog," Henry said.

"They're a good side. There's bits and pieces we can improve on but the bottom line is we had a good win."

England had started brightly, running the ball back at New Zealand from the kick-off and flying into tackles.

But after a promising England attack broke down after a knock-on by Easter, the All Blacks were soon into their stride.

With New Zealand being able to punch holes in the opposition midfield seemingly at will, it was only a matter of time before the pressure told, and midway through the first half England's defence finally cracked.

Sonny Bill Williams burst through the centre and off-loaded deftly to Jerome Kaino, who fed Gear to touch down in the corner after prolonged deliberations by the video referee.

Carter made it 7-0 with the conversion and moments later New Zealand doubled their lead, Read bulldozing his way from the breakdown after a five-metre scrum to leave England rocking at 14-0.

Toby Flood put England's first points on the board with a penalty on 25 minutes but the home side squandered the little attacking momentum they managed to generate for the remainder of the half.

New Zealand extended their lead through a Carter penalty which made it 17-3, but Flood missed the chance to reduce the deficit when a three-pointer from distance.

On the stroke of half-time England finally mounted an attack near the New Zealand line, but though fullback Ben Foden was driven over, the All Black defence managed to hold the Northampton player up.

England got off to a solid start in the second half when pressure at the scrum forced a New Zealand penalty and Flood added the three points.

But the All Blacks responded almost immediately through Carter's second penalty to make it 20-6 after captain Lewis Moody was offside at the breakdown.

England came roaring back moments later though, with an opportunist try launched from inside their own 22 when Chris Ashton took a quick mark and tap to burst forward and offload to Mike Tindall.

A kick forward by Flood allowed replacement hooker Hartley to sneak the ball through and touch down for a converted try to take England to within seven points.

Yet once again the home side gave away a needless penalty to allow New Zealand to restore their 10-point cushion, Carter kicking over after the English failed to release to make it 23-13.

Flood and Carter swapped penalties shortly afterwards but with England refusing to admit defeat the New Zealanders were put under fierce pressure which told when Jerome Kaino was sinbinned for infringing.

England thought they had closed the gap to five points with three minutes to play when Shontayne Hape went over in the corner only for to be adjudged to have been in touch by the video referee.

Scorers: