New Zealand beat England 19-6 in a hard-fought encounter at Twickenham on Saturday 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 ahead.

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, returning after missing last week's 20-6 win over Italy through suspension, was off-target with two kicks that were within his range.

"It was tough but we are happy to get a win at Twickenham," Carter told Sky Sports.

"Defensively we were very sound. But in terms of our attacking ability we have got to hold onto the ball more and build the phases."

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was delighted.

"Every time we play England it is a tough game, especially at Twickenham," he said.

Johnson said he New Zealand's try was disappointing.

"We could have been in it... We won last week but now people seem happier we've lost," he said.

The 2003 World Cup winning captain added: "We are further on from where we were last year and at the Six Nations."

A Carter penalty early in the second half gave New Zealand the lead for the first time in the match at 9-6.

New Zealand's pressure eventually told in the 57th minute when a blindside break by Sivivatu was carried on by star flanker Richie McCaw, the man-of-the-match.

The All Blacks captain's pass to Cowan appeared forward but the officials saw nothing wrong and he went in at the corner.

Carter added the difficult conversion before his fourth penalty extended the All Blacks' lead to 13 points.

Earlier, Carter missed his first goalkick but, with his second, broke Andrew Mehrtens's all-time New Zealand points record of 967.

That meant Carter, playing in his 65th Test, had broken the record in five fewer matches than Mehrtens.

New Zealand's tour continues with next week's Test against France in Marseille.

"They are playing extremely well," said Carter, who had a brief spell with French side Perpignan.

"It will be good to be back in France playing against a couple of old teammates."

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