England narrowly missed out on inflicting New Zealand's first defeat at Eden Park in 30 years as the All Blacks came from behind to win 24-17 on Saturday.
The victory was secured by Damian McKenzie's penalty five minutes from the end, with New Zealand also sealing the 2-0 Test series win.
Mark Tele'a was the star for the All Blacks as he scored a try in both halves, pouncing on an England mistake for his first.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso responded just moments later, after latching onto Marcus Smith's cross-field kick, with the latter then setting Tommy Freeman up in the same way to see England take a one-point lead into half-time.
They then opened up a four-point gap with a penalty, but New Zealand found their fight, with Beaumont Barrett wonderfully bursting in behind to set Tele'a up for his second.
England were denied the chance to cross for a late try, which could have set up a 24-24 draw with the conversion, but a television match official referral saw them penalised inches from the line.
"In the second half we were not as accurate as we wanted to be, we gave away a few too many penalties and gave them easy points and territory," Maro Itoje told Sky Sports after the game.
"When you are playing a good team, you cannot really do that. We gave their backfield opportunities to run it back at us. Beauden Barrett and the rest are good players, so we don't want to give them opportunities, but we live and we learn.
"It is tough, but I think we showed some improvements in the way we play the game, but at the end of the day it just wasn't good enough today.
"We are at the start of the journey, we are a young team, and we can only get better for these experiences."
Data Debrief: All Blacks hot streak stays alive
New Zealand are now unbeaten across their last 49 Test matches at Eden Park (W47 D2), with their last loss in the city of Auckland coming against France in 1994.
Meanwhile, England have won just two of their last nine Test matches away from home (L7, excluding neutral venues) after winning three in a row previously. However, each of their last four losses outside of England have come by margins of fewer than 10 points.
I would have asked to bat in top four on debut, says England's Bethell
Jacob Bethell said that he would have asked to bat up the order on his Test debut had he not received a "surprise" invitation to do so by England against New Zealand.
Bethell scored an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls after coming in at number three and also hit the winning runs as the tourists posted an eight-wicket win in the first Test in Christchurch.
"I would have asked for it to be honest," Bethell told BBC Sport.
"I like batting up the order so I was really happy that opportunity arose. I've always wanted to bat in the top four, so three is perfect," added Bethell, who had not battled above number four in his first-class career where he has an average of 25.44 from 30 innings.
The 21-year-old was called up to the England squad as a batting cover, but found himself in the line-up after an injury to wicketkeeper Jordan Cox.
Bethell was dismissed for 10 in his first Test innings, but produced a quick half-century in the second as England chased down the 104-run target set by New Zealand with ease.
"It's everything I've dreamed of," said Bethell, who hit eight fours and a six during his knock.
"It lived up to expectations. It was so fun."
But Bethell will have his work cut out to keep his number three spot with Ollie Pope, who moved down the order due to workload management after wicketkeeping duties, being the regular for England in that position.
"It was my first experience playing in front of packed grass banks, pristine outfield, good pitches and playing against a good team, so it was great," Bethell said.
"To come out in the second innings and have a chance to walk off with an England win was at the forefront of my mind and luckily I was able to do that."
Born in Barbados, Bethell moved to England at the age of 13 and made his T20 and ODI debuts against Australia in September.
He has scored three scores of 50 or more in 15 limited-over appearances for England so far, earning him a contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League worth about £245,000.
The second Test of the three-match series will begin in Wellington on Thursday.
I would've asked to bat in top four on debut, says England's Bethell
Jacob Bethell said that he would have asked to bat up the order on his Test debut had he not received a "surprise" invitation to do so by England against New Zealand.
Bethell scored an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls after coming in at number three and also hit the winning runs as the tourists posted an eight-wicket win in the first Test in Christchurch.
"I would have asked for it to be honest," Bethell told BBC Sport.
"I like batting up the order so I was really happy that opportunity arose. I've always wanted to bat in the top four, so three is perfect," added Bethell, who had not battled above number four in his first-class career where he has an average of 25.44 from 30 innings.
The 21-year-old was called up to the England squad as a batting cover, but found himself in the line-up after an injury to wicketkeeper Jordan Cox.
Bethell was dismissed for 10 in his first Test innings, but produced a quick half-century in the second as England chased down the 104-run target set by New Zealand with ease.
"It's everything I've dreamed of," said Bethell, who hit eight fours and a six during his knock.
"It lived up to expectations. It was so fun."
But Bethell will have his work cut out to keep his number three spot with Ollie Pope, who moved down the order due to workload management after wicketkeeping duties, being the regular for England in that position.
"It was my first experience playing in front of packed grass banks, pristine outfield, good pitches and playing against a good team, so it was great," Bethell said.
"To come out in the second innings and have a chance to walk off with an England win was at the forefront of my mind and luckily I was able to do that."
Born in Barbados, Bethell moved to England at the age of 13 and made his T20 and ODI debuts against Australia in September.
He has scored three scores of 50 or more in 15 limited-over appearances for England so far, earning him a contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League worth about £245,000.
The second Test of the three-match series will begin in Wellington on Thursday.
England captain Stokes confident in fitness ahead of second New Zealand Test
England captain Ben Stokes allayed fears over his fitness despite an injury scare on Sunday.
Stokes' side claimed an eight-wicket win over New Zealand in Christchurch, with Brydon Carse taking six wickets in the second innings.
But while Carse starred, becoming the first England seamer since Ryan Sidebottom in 2008 to take 10 wickets in an away Test match, Stokes was forced to abandon a bowling spell midway through his fifth over.
However, the England skipper claimed he was merely managing his body, and he is confident of being fit to feature in the second Test, which starts on Friday in Wellington.
He said: "I've not spent that much time out in the middle for a long time.
"It's been a pretty heavy week this week: a lot of time in the field, bowled 20 overs, and then spent some time out in the middle.
"I hurt my back diving for a ball as well.
"It's more management than anything else: with where we were in the game, it didn't feel necessary to eke out any more balls than I needed to. I think the body is going to be good for this outing, and I'm raring to go for Wellington."
Stokes also had special praise for Carse.
"I've been fortunate enough to grow up with Brydon [Carse] in my Durham days and I've always known his potential and his talent," Stokes added.
"So to see him come into this team and make an impact so early on is amazing. He's an absolute workhorse and he'll keep charging in all day regardless of whether conditions are in his favour or not.
"To see him get his rewards, walking off with six-for and 10 in the game is amazing."
It was a humbling defeat for hosts New Zealand, who were left to rue some sloppy fielding. Captain Tom Latham, though, was not too downcast.
He said: "Isolate the first two innings, that sort of surface, the position we were in, I was happy.
"We had our opportunities, on another day the catches go to hand and it would've been slightly different. That’s the sport we play.
"Some days it doesn't fall your way. From our point of view, guys aren't meaning to drop them, they are trying. Some days they catch them, other days it drops, that's the game of cricket."
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