Barrett cameo fires All Blacks to victory over England

Beauden Barrett came off the bench to inspire the All Blacks to a 24-17 victory over England in an Auckland thriller on Saturday, denying the visitors a drought-breaking victory and locking up a 2-0 series win.

Barrett set up the second of winger Mark Tele'a's two tries in the 61st minute just as England, losers by a single point in the first Test in Dunedin last week, threatened to end New Zealand's 30-year unbeaten run at Eden Park.

All Blacks flyhalf Damian McKenzie kicked a fourth penalty five minutes from time to extend the lead to seven points and the New Zealanders held the visitors out in the frantic final minutes.

“It was a proper Test match and we expected nothing less from a classy side,” said Barrett. “Oh mate, that's Test footy, it comes down to the wire like that. So proud of the boys for showing some good belief and finishing it off there.

"[I] was just showing a bit of energy really, to give us some shape and structure and we did well to pull some strings off the back of that. But it was a hell of a Test match.”

England flyhalf Marcus Smith had set up tries for wingers Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman with cross kicks and added seven points from the kicking tee to take his team close to a first victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand since 2003.

It was the England pack, spearheaded by lock Maro Itoje, which had laid the foundation for a second world-class performance in as many weeks with their immense physicality keeping the home side on the back foot for much of the night.

“It's been a long season for us dating back to the start of the World Cup,” said England skipper Jamie George.

“I think we're a significantly better team than when we started and there's hugely exciting times ahead for this English team.”

The first quarter was frenetic as both teams were running the ball from everywhere, but it was New Zealand who opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Tele'a picked up the ball at the back of a ruck and streaked to the line down the blindside.

England responded three minutes late when Smith hoisted a kick across to Feyi-Waboso and the winger wove between the last two defenders to touch down.

The All Blacks almost got in again in the 19th minute with an attack down the left flank but Smith raced back and managed to intercept the final pass to save the try.

England's defence was again steely and New Zealand opted to hand the ball to McKenzie on their next two kickable penalties and led 13-7 until just before halftime.

Smith, playing under advantage, took the ball just outside the 22-metre line and lofted another perfect kick across to Tommy Freeman, who leapt above Tele'a to gather it and touch down.

Smith missed three kicks last week but nailed both conversions in the first half before extending England's lead to 17-13 with a penalty nine minutes into the second half.

The 48,362 crowd was starting to get jittery as England continued to dominate territory and possession but All Blacks coach Scott Robertson had started emptying his bench and Beauden Barrett entered the contest.

Taking an early ball from McKenzie on the hour mark, the former world player of the year slashed through a gap in the defensive line before straightening up and releasing Tele'a to apply the finish to a fine try.

England thought they had rolled a maul over the line that would have given them a shot at levelling the scores in the dying seconds but the officials decided there had been obstruction before ruling on whether the ball had been grounded.