he All Blacks got out of jail against a determined England at Eden Park, with a late try saving the home team's blushes.
It was New Zealand's first Test of the year and it showed as a depleted and unfancied England side pushed them all the way in a tense battle.
The visitors played with more intensity and managed to disrupt the All Blacks' game as the best team in the world battled to find any real fluency.
With the match in the balance in the final stages the All Blacks came up with the goods, but they will know that they were pretty fortunate to come away with the win after a fairly rusty performance.
We rate the New Zealand players:
15 Israel Dagg
Looked threatening on attack, joined the line well and made a few good breaks but he was not solid enough under the high ball and left the field after 55 minutes.
7/10
14 Ben Smith
Ran some great angles but did not see enough of the ball and was shut down pretty quickly by the line speed of the England defenders, put a few high balls down as well.
6/10
13 Conrad Smith
Scored the winning try, but it was a mixed bag from the veteran whose distribution and defence was not at his usual high standard. He attacked the gainline hard and even threw in a goosestep but not his most consistent performance.
7/10
12 Ma'a Nonu
Threatened at times and made some customery big tackles, but was blown up for pulling a jersey off the ball and put the ball out on the full.
6/10
11 Cory Jane
Solid as usual under the high ball but did not get many attacking opportunities and battled to involve himself in the game.
6/10
10 Aaron Cruden
His goalkicking was reliable in an otherwise indifferent performance which saw him put under extreme pressure by the England defence. Sparked a few promising movements but did not really assert himself in a game dominated by the boot.
6/10
9 Aaron Smith
The most threatening All Blacks backline player on the night, he put a few good kicks in behind the England defence and his pace and urgency proved a handful to handle whilst his service was impressive as well.
8/10
8 Jerome Kaino
Made a few powerful runs to get over the gainline, but was not given a lot of space and then knocked the ball on with the tryline begging.
7/10
7 Richie McCaw
Made one crucial turnover and worked hard at the breakdown all game, but looked slightly off the pace and did not have his usual impact.
6/10
6 Liam Messam
Got through plenty of work on defence, but also slipped a few tackles and battled to match the intesnity of the England loose forwards.
6/10
5 Sam Whitelock
Bossed the line-outs as usual and made a lot of tackles, got around the park well and hit plenty of rucks.
7/10
4 Brodie Retallick
Made a thundering break late in the game to put the All Blacks in the England 22 and contested both line-outs and restarts well on top of making some big hits.
7/10
3 Owen Franks
Made a few big tackles and was fairly solid at scrum-time, perhaps guilty of playing England players off the ball around the rucks before being taken off after 55 minutes.
6/10
2 Dane Coles
Played with plenty of energy but missed a few line-out throws and butchered a great attacking opportunity when he played Chris Robshaw off the ball just short of the tryline.
6/10
1 Tony Woodcock
A tough outing for the veteran prop who was worked over in the scrums by David Wilson and did not make much of an impact in open play either before being replaced after an hour.
5/10
Replacements:
16 Keven Mealamu (On for Coles, 59 mins)
Added some valuable experience up front and did not do much wrong in his time on the field.
7/10
17 Wyatt Crockett (On for Woodcock, 63 mins)
Under pressure at scrum-time, but was still pretty solid.
6/10
18 Charlie Faumuina (On for Franks, 55 mins)
Not his best performance as he was shoved around by Joe Marler in the scrums and did not make the impact expected after coming on early in the second half.
5/10
19 Patrick Tuipulotu
Not used.
20 Victor Vito (On for Messam, 71 mins)
Injected some late urgency and came close to scoring before Smith landed the killer blow.
7/10
21 TJ Perenara (On for Aaron Smith, 70 mins)
An energetic ten minutes from the scrumhalf who was able to serve up some quick ball.
6/10
22 Beauden Barrett (On for Dagg, 55 mins)
Came on at fullback but did not have much of an impact as his handling let him down at times and did not get as much distance with the boot as Dagg.
6/10
23 Malakai Fekitoa (On for Nonu, 59 mins)
Ran hard on his Test debut and was solid in defence but did not get many opportunities.
6/10
By Michael de Vries
