The All Blacks were made to work hard again by an improving England side but they managed to get the job done with a thrilling 24-17 victory at Eden Park.
It was another fast start by the hosts, who went 7-0 ahead through Mark Tele’a’s try, but just like last weekend the Red Rose responded.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso levelled matters with an excellent effort and, although successive Damian McKenzie penalties took New Zealand 13-7 in front, the English hit back via Tommy Freeman.
After Marcus Smith converted and added a three-pointer early in the second period, the visitors were in control, but they couldn’t build on it.
The All Blacks kept themselves in the contest and finished the stronger, winning the match through Tele’a’s second score and McKenzie’s third penalty.
As a result, the home side stretched their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 49 matches, a record they had held for 30 years.
Beauden Barrett’s super-sub cameo conjured a try for Tele’a, ignited the All Blacks’ attack and produced a series of important inventions.
England had been magnificent until his arrival with second-rows Maro Itoje and George Martin and Feyi-Waboso outstanding, aided by the leveller of the hosts’ spectacular line-out malfunction.
But, despite dominating territory and possession in the third quarter, points were elusive and they fell short with an overtime attempt to snatch a draw when a line-out drive that reached the line was penalised.
New Zealand’s 30-year unbeaten record at Eden Park had survived in a gripping Test between two well-matched rivals, who clash again at Twickenham on November 2.
For England it was another missed opportunity but they at least showed fight to stay in the hunt following a worrying start.
Their scrum struggled ― a theme of the game ― Freddie Steward was slow to deal with a kick and their defence was too soft in the face of an Ardie Savea carry that allowed Tele’a to touch down.
But their response to Tele’a scooting down an unguarded blindside was stunning as Smith directed a pinpoint chip into space between two All Blacks for Feyi-Waboso to gather and produce a sharp finish.
Smith then came to the rescue in defence as New Zealand went within one pass of scoring, intercepting at the critical moment while Steward applied pressure by covering with determination.
McKenzie nudged the All Blacks ahead with a penalty but there were promising signs from England’s attack as they pieced together phases.
Ben Earl was hustled off the ball at the back of a scrum by Finlay Christie as another strong position passed without points being scored, while New Zealand’s line-out was malfunctioning with Itoje picking off one errant throw.
McKenzie was on target again but England pounced on the stroke of half-time when Martin made hard yards for Smith to find Freeman with another accurate kick and the wing’s athleticism and handling skills did the rest.
Smith landed a penalty to increase the lead to 17-13 but the points came after a bustling attack was ended by a Jamie George knock-on that could have yielded a great prize.
England were camped in home territory, helped by Sevu Reece kicking out on the full and a monster Smith touch-finder, yet were unable to reflect their control of territory on the scoreboard.
When the All Blacks finally escaped their half, they pounced with Barrett racing through a hole and providing the scoring pass to Tele’a.
Barrett had come on with 23 minutes to go and virtually every touch was influential, providing New Zealand with renewed purpose as McKenzie’s penalty delivered the final points.
The teams
New Zealand: 15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Damon Murphy (Australia), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
Wing Duhan van der Merwe opened the visitors’ try account in the sixth minute before hooker Ashman’s treble sent Gregor Townsend’s troops in 28-7 ahead at the interval.
Tuilagi who weighs a whopping 149 kilograms and stands 194 centimetres tall made his Test debut earlier this year in the second-row, quickly proving he is ready for the highest level of the game.
Missing the majority of their Six Nations regulars, head coach Gregor Townsend is using this Americas tour to look at fringe players who are pushing for regular places.
Fabien Galthie flexed Les Bleus’ depth as his charges ran in three tries to Argentina’s one, as Felipe Contepomi’s tenure as head coach of the Pumas started with a disappointing defeat.
Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed for an early try for South Africa before Cheslin Kolbe went over in the second period, with a 78th minute penalty try from a scrum sealing the win.
Australia began the match well, going 13-3 ahead through Taniela Tupou’s try and two penalties from Noah Lolesio, but they were pegged back.
There were a few errors from both sides but it proved to be a thrilling contest. It may have New Zealand’s first game under Robertson but they showed some fluency in attack in the first half, scoring two tries via Sevu Reece and Ardie Savea.
Try doubles from Lachlan Boshier, Jonny May and Leicester Fainga’anuku were added to by a crossing from Zach Mercer as an end-to-end game was won by the Barbarians.
Tries from Jesse Kriel, Makazole Mapimpi, Bongi Mbonambi and Edwill van der Merwe were added to by a penalty try as South Africa sealed the win in the London sunshine.
As the scoreline suggests, England were full value for their win as they outscored their hosts by eight tries to two with Smith, Chandler Cunningham-South, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall and Sam Underhill all crossing the whitewash for the visitors.
Coming into the game on the back of a shock loss to England, the Irish regrouped and ground out the win thanks to tries from front-row duo Dan Sheehan and Andrew Porter.
With less than a minute remaining, the Les Bleus fly-half stepped up from the halfway line and succeeded in nudging his side into the lead before they saw out the game.
For the Azzurri they can finally offload the Wooden Spoon for the first time since 2015 as tries from Monty Ioane and Lorenzo Pani helped to seal a solid victory on the road.
Head coach Fabien Galthie has been under pressure following a disappointing tournament so far, but this was a much-improved display.
The shock result denies the Irish a shot at back-to-back Grand Slams as they came off second best to a much-improved performance from the Red Rose in front of their fans.
Juan Ignacio Brex, Louis Lynagh and Stephen Varney tries helped the Azzurri to a famous victory, with Paolo Garbisi and Martin Page-Relo adding points off the tee.
In the end, both sides scored a try apiece with Les Bleus captain Charles Ollivon crossing the whitewash for the hosts and Ange Capuozzo scored the Azzurri’s five-pointer.
The powerful finisher scored twice against the Red Rose in last year’s match but went one better in 2024 as Scotland bounced back from the loss to France in Round Two.
Tries from Dan Sheehan, James Lowe, Ciaran Frawley and Tadhg Beirne saw Andy Farrell’s charges to the five points, their third try bonus-point of this Championship.
After their outstanding performance against France in Marseille last Friday, the Irish were looking to make it two wins from two and completed another maximum haul.