LONDON: New Zealand beat England 19-6 in a hard-fought encounter here at Twickenham yesterday that saw Dan Carter become the All Blacks' leading international points scorer.

Although this was the All Blacks' eighth win in a row over England they did not pull away until just before the hour mark with scrum-half Jimmy Cowan's converted try putting the visitors 16-6 up. Jonny Wilkinson kicked all of England's points in a match where they did not score at all in the second half.

But this was a much-improved England side from the one that struggled to beat Argentina 16-9 last week.

And the way in which they concluded a November campaign that started with an 18-9 loss to Australia appeared to give under-pressure manager Martin Johnson some breathing space.

England, despite fears they might be submerged under an All Black tide, having lost last year's corresponding fixture 32-6, ended the first-half all square at 6-6. Wilkinson kicked two penalties for England and rival fly-half Carter two for New Zealand although the All Black ace was off-target with two kicks that were within his range.

England began with far greater snap than against the Pumas, openside flanker Lewis Moody leading the way by putting pressure on Carter and nearly charging down a couple of kicks by the No 10.

The hosts did suffer a setback when recalled blindside flanker Joe Worsley went off in the third minute with an ankle injury. But England continued to run the ball far more than they did last week.

They were almost rewarded with a try in the 12th minute after the All Blacks lost possession in their own 22 but South African referee Jonathan Kaplan ruled England wing Ugo Monye had knocked on before crossing the line.