England player ratings vs All Blacks: Second test at Eden Park

Test rugby is undeniably brutal, isn't it?

England deserved a better outcome from that Test, but they ultimately lost the series 2-0. The margins were incredibly fine, and one can only hope they will look back on this with some positivity. There seems to be potential for more from this squad.

The match was another nail-biter, with only one score separating the teams at the end. However, once again, New Zealand came out on top, securing a 24-17 victory when the final whistle blew.

England's Maro Itoje speaking to Sky Sports: "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.

"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."

Scroll down for England player ratings vs All Blacks:

15 Freddie Steward - 6.5

Called to start for the Test in the absence of George Furbank, as the Northampton Saints fullback pulled out with a late back injury. Steward impressed under the high ball to his usual talents, and returned the kicks with stunning showings of pace. Steward was withdrawn for the final 12 minutes, as he was clattered by Ethan de Groot with the prop hitting him at top speed.

14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso - 8

A brilliant performance from the Exeter Chiefs wing, as the All Blacks wings will certainly remember the name Feyi-Waboso. Starting off his evening with a stunning try, the flying wing plucked a Marcus Smith cross-field kick out of the air, and breezed past the All Blacks defenders on his way through to the try-line. Constantly asking questions of the defenders whenever he got his hands on the ball, Feyi-Waboso also had a solid defensive effort with heavy hits.

13 Henry Slade - 6.5

Slade ticked his boxes in attack, but did not shine in the line as much as he would have hoped. The Chiefs man was put under plenty of pressure by the All Blacks high line, with the defensive speed forcing the centre to go for the boot to clear his lines time and again.

12 Ollie Lawrence - 6

It was a mixed bag from Lawrence, with the Bath man making a handful of handling errors in the first half. Lawrence opted to explode onto the ball at pace, and formed an axis with Ben Earl, as he peeled off the back of a scrum. However, Lawrence was routinly met with a heavy shoulder and spilled the ball in contact a few times of counting.

11 Tommy Freeman - 7.5

The England wing was another top performer for Borthwick's squad, and impressed all onlookers with his superbly taken try. Jumping up at full stretch to pluck the ball out of Mark Tele'a's grasp, Freeman showcased his agility and power to seal off Smith's cross-field kick. A solid outing defensively, as Freeman had a proper positional battle with Sevu Reece.

10 Marcus Smith - 8

The fly half pulled double duty for England today, as he began the match at 10 yet finished out his evening in the fullback spot. Smith had a stunning effort against the All Blacks, as he contributed two assists from cross-field kicks and was also impressive defensively. A linchpin of the England attack who made amends on his Dunedin missed kicks.

9 Alex Mitchell - 7.5

Alex Mitchell tried his hand at sniping around the back of the breakdown, with the tactic initially successful before becoming a bit of a predictable manehouvre. His box kicking was on the money for the best part of the match, and he skipped passed a few All Blacks tacklers in the process. Quick ball once again the order of the day as Mitchell took charge.

8 Ben Earl - 6

It is rare to see Ben Earl rack up a middle of the road mark upon player ratings, but the number eight did not perform to the best of his abilities at Eden Park. As mentioned earlier, the combination with Ollie Lawrence struggled to gel at the pack of the scrum, and Earl gave away a few penalties at the breakdown.

7 Sam Underhill - 6.5

Another effort that flew below the back-row's high standards, despite Underhill's best efforts on being a wrecking ball in defence. The flanker repeatedly chopped down the heavy All Black forwards, yet had a one-dimensional approach to his attack that left him isolated at times.

6 Chandler Cunningham-South - 6.5

The New Zealand raised back row was chomping at the bit for a Test match cap at Eden Park, and his performance saw him put his body on the line from the get go. Cunningham-South flew onto heavy carries and was soon feeling the effects of the multi-man tackles courtesy of the All Blacks defenders.

5 George Martin - 7

The Leicester Tigers lock has continued on with his upwards trajectory through the second row ranks, with Ollie Chessum given plenty of work to do if he wants to get his spot back in the starting XV for the Autumn. With a fearless approach that puts his body on the line in every involvement, Martin's physicality knew no bounds at Eden Park.

4 Maro Itoje - 7.5

The tank is well and truly empty for England's lock, as Itoje spent the last 15 minutes catching his breath after another impressive outing, Name-checked by Jamie George as 'world class' after the game, Itoje shone with the second row earning a well-deserved break. A few penalty offences hindered his rating, yet you can not fault his undying effort.

3 Will Stuart - 6.5

The tight-head prop was unable to dominate the head-to-head with Ethan de Groot, as much as he did in the Dunedin Test. Stuart was solid around the park, yet had a tough day on the offensive foot when Fletcher Newell got introduced. With Dan Cole making his 115th Test cap at 37-years-old, Stuart fell out of the spotlight for England's tight-heads.

2 Jamie George (captain) - 8

The England captain was the workhorse of the England front row, as he ran out for 80 minutes against the All Blacks. The England captain emptied the tank after a solid 50 minute effort up front, yet an unfortunate head injury to Theo Dan just seconds after coming on, saw George 'U-turn' from the replacements bench and finish off the match.

1 Fin Baxter - 7

On for his first Test match start, Fin Baxter was one of the top peformers of England's forward pack. The 22-year-old did not let the bright lights of Eden Park cloud his confidence, as he went toe-to-toe with Tyrel Lomax for a solid effort up-front. Carried well around the loose with an effort that made Dan Cole proud.

16 Theo Dan - N/A

17 Bevan Rodd - 6

18 Dan Cole - 6

19 Alex Coles - 6

20 Tom Curry - 6.5

21 Ben Spencer - N/a

22 Fin Smith - 7

23 Ollie Sleightholme - 7

1.⁠ ⁠Ethan De Groot 6.5

2.⁠ ⁠Codie Taylor 7.5

3.⁠ ⁠Tyrel Lomax 6.5

4.⁠ ⁠Scott Barrett (Captain) 7.5

5.⁠ ⁠Patrick Tuipulotu 6

6.⁠ ⁠Samipeni Finau 7

7.⁠ ⁠Dalton Papali’i 7

8.⁠ ⁠Ardie Savea (Vice Captain) 7

9.⁠ ⁠Finlay Christie 6.5

10.⁠ ⁠Damian McKenzie 7.5

11.⁠ ⁠Mark Tele’a 8.5

12.⁠ ⁠Jordie Barrett (Vice Captain) 7

13.⁠ ⁠Rieko Ioane 7

14.⁠ ⁠Sevu Reece 6

15. Stephen Perofeta 6

RESERVES:

16.⁠ ⁠Asafo Aumua 6

17.⁠ ⁠Ofa Tu’ungafasi 6

18.⁠ ⁠Fletcher Newell 7

19.⁠ ⁠Tupou Vaa’i 6.5

20.⁠ ⁠Luke Jacobson 6

21.⁠ ⁠Cortez Ratima 7.5

22.⁠ ⁠Anton Lienert-Brown 7

23.⁠ ⁠Beauden Barrett 8