Mark Telea double sets up series win for New Zealand over England

New Zealand 24-17 England, Eden Park, Auckland

Mark Telea scored a double as New Zealand sealed a 24-17 victory over England in the second and final Test at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

This follows their 16-15 win in Dunedin as Scott Robertson's side completed a 2-0 series victory while also maintaining their 30-year unbeaten record at Eden Park.

New Zealand were trailing by four points before Beauden Barrett's introduction in the 50th minute and he played a pivotal role in setting up Telea's second steering them to a win.

England had two forced changes with Joe Marler and George Furbank ruled out and Fin Baxter and Freddie Steward replaced them while Finlay Christie came in at scrum-half for the injured TJ Perenara.

New Zealand opened their account in the 11th minute when Ardie Savea went past the England defence and passed on to the left wing for Telea to touchdown. Damian McKenzie kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.

The response from England came instantly with Marcus Smith sending a crossfield kick to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso who outjumped Telea to go over the line. Smith kicked the extras to level the scores.

The All Blacks inched ahead by the start of the second quarter when they won a penalty and McKenzie slotted the three-pointer to make it 10-7.

With another penalty won at the breakdown, McKenzie extended the All Blacks' lead to six points before England struck on the stroke of half-time with another cross-field kick from Smith allowing Tommy Freeman to dot down as they completed the opening half with a slender 13-14 lead.

England then extended their advantage as they won a breakdown penalty which Smith converted to make it 13-17 before the decisive moment came in the 61st minute when Beauden Barrett offloaded for Telea to score his second try but this time McKenzie missed the conversion making it 18-17.

With 10 minutes left in the game, McKenzie provided New Zealand with some relief as he kicked another breakdown penalty and any chance of England making a dream comeback was halted as Maro Itoje was penalised for a tackle in the air and the All Blacks fly-half kicked another three-pointer to complete a 24-17 victory.

England could have snatched a draw late on but instead the TMO ruled there had been illegal obstruction as Jamie George was driven towards the line when Steve Borthwick's troops went in search of a penalty try.

“I think Test matches challenge your character. We had to dig deep there. I think it is adapting in game, what works at the start doesn’t work at the end. I guess you are never comfortable in this environment and we are looking to build on these performances," said New Zealand captain Scott Barrett.

Team line-ups:

New Zealand: Stephen Perofeta; Sevu Reece, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Mark Tele’a; Damian McKenzie, Finlay Christie; Ethan De Groot, Codie Taylor, Tyrel Lomax, Scott Barrett, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samipeni Finau, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea

Replacements: Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Fletcher Newell, Tupou Vaa’i, Luke Jacobson, Cortez Ratima, Anton Lienert-Brown, Beauden Barrett

England: Freddie Steward; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman; Marcus Smith, Alex Mitchell; Fin Baxter, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.

Replacements: Theo Dan, Bevan Rodd, Dan Cole, Alex Coles, Tom Curry, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme