It was a rare game which saw the all-conquering All Blacks huffed and puffed against their rivals until the final whistle was blown. They were 15-0 down in the first 23 minutes. Still, Kieron Read's indomitable side got their mojo back in the next one hour.

England's Sam Underhill went for the jugular with a seemingly match-winning try with just four minutes left. But it wasn't his day. French referee Jerome Garces and television match official Marius Jonker had a different thought over its technicality. As a result, the dogged English side couldn't get any further chance to add a single point to their tally that was being flashed on the Twickenham scoreboard for one agonizingly long and frustrating hour for a partisan home crowd. Meanwhile, the New Zealanders dug deeper and brought out their resilient best, as usual, when the going gets tough and the tough gets going.

In the end, the obvious happened. The invincible force from the southern hemisphere re-wrote their regular and ever-familiar script with a big W.

Steve Hansen's side clinched the humdinger to ensure that an inspiring England didn't do a Springboks when the match went down to the wire.

It was a victory of a never-say-die spirit over dominance. The energy-sapping, nerve-jangling game made a crowd of 82000 sit on the edge of their seats. Buoyed by their home support and a positive attitude, the hosts came out blazing on all cylinders leaving their fancied rivals in disarray.

A relieved head coach Hansen hailed the "brave" call that eventually sealed the deal for his side. "It's difficult to play when it's hosing it down. You're not going to play razzle-dazzle rugby, so we had to grind it out," the New Zealander reacted after winning the prestige battle.

Meanwhile, after insisting that his side "has finished stronger," England coach Ed Jordan conceded, "We're obviously devastated. We had opportunities to win the game. We didn't take them. They did."

The All Blacks retained the Hillary Shield with their thrilling 16-15 win before taking on a promising Irish side, under the possible successor of Hansen, Joe Schmidt, next weekend.

(With inputs from news agencies)