There had been rumours that England planned a response to the haka spread before kick-off, with off-duty England prop Joe Marler - whose said on Monday that the pre-match challenge should be "binned" - on the sidelines during the teams warm-up.

The rumours proved true. To the delight of the home crowd, captain Jamie George led his side up to halfway - the limit of what is allowed - to face the All Blacks. The visitors responded in kind, advancing to within five metres of England, as the two teams stared into the whites of each other's eyes.

England's defence initially to match that coordination and intent. After nine minutes, on their first real attack, New Zealand sliced through all too easily.

Flanker Wallace Sititi drew Tommy Freeman and George Furbank on the short side before flipping an offload to Tele'a, who cruised around covering prop Ellis Genge and into the corner.

New Zealand's second try - on 27 minutes - was another eyesore for new England defence coach Joe El-Abd.

Beauden Barrett jagged blind, leaving England short-staffed before Jordan cut back on a scissors angle to canter past Genge, exposed once more against pace.

That body blow moved the All Blacks 14-6 clear and the game already looked perilously close to slipping into southern hemisphere hands.

But England hung tough. Their scrum, under pressure in the summer, was a source of strength, earning penalties and a solid supply of ball. They imposed themselves in contact, with Chandler Cunningham-South landing a shuddering hit on Tupou Vaa'i before exhorting more noise from the stands.

And New Zealand's indiscipline, frequently hitting players without the ball on the gain-line, allowed them a route back into the game with another two Smith penalties.

New Zealand still bristled with danger when afforded space. The superb Sititi surged through broken field and almost laid on a third try just before half-time, with Vaa'i just unable to reel in his pass with the line beckoning.

The All Blacks though have had a habit of fading out of games in the Rugby Championship this year, and a prime piece of pickpocketing from Smith put them on the back foot early in the second half.

The England fly-half grabbed Cortez Ratima's sluggish pass, sprinted clear and the ball was smuggled out to Feyi-Waboso who cantered in for 19-14.

Every tackle, turnover and successful dual was being celebrated long, loud and together by England's players as they zeroed in on a first home win over New Zealand in 12 years.

The biggest cheer though was reserved for referee Angus Gardner, whose voice was broadcast NFL-style over the stadium speakers - a new innovation for this autumn - as he reviewed and ruled out a score by Beauden Barrett for Caleb Clarke's knock-on.

However, England ultimately could not keep the visitors at bay.

The replacement front row - Fin Baxter, Theo Dan and Dan Cole - could not maintain their grip on the scrum and the penalty count ticked up against the home side.

Finally Tele'a, forced back into the fray after an injury to Beauden Barrett, pirouetted through Ford's tackle and held off Harry Randall to dot down.

There was still time for more drama, but not another twist in the scoreline, as Ford planted a long, but straight penalty shot against the post and then clipped a last-gasp drop-goal wide.

In England's last outing at Twickenham back in March, Smith had landed a final-play drop-goal from a similar spot to defeat Grand Slam-chasing Ireland.

This time, they could not muster the same accuracy and were left with a vastly different feeling as they tasted narrow and bitter defeat once again.

England: Furbank; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman; M Smith, Spencer; Genge, George (capt), Stuart; Itoje, Martin; Cunningham-South, T Curry, Earl.

Replacements: Dan, Baxter, Cole, Isiekwe, B Curry, Dombrandt, Randall, Ford.

New Zealand: Jordan; Tele'a, Ioane, J Barrett, Clarke; B Barrett, Ratima; Williams, Taylor, Lomax, S Barrett (capt), Vaa'i, Sititi, Cane, Savea.

Replacements: Aumua, Tu'ungafasi, Tosi, Tuipulotu, Finau, Roigard, Lienart-Brown, McKenzie.