WORLD champions New Zealand broke English hearts yesterday as they won at Twickenham by a single point.

That was the same winning margin the home side enjoyed to beat South Africa last week when a late video referee decision went in the home side’s favour.

Against the men in Black though, they suffered the anguish of seeing Sam Underhill cross the line with just five minutes go, only to have the score ruled out by South African video referee Marius Jonker.

The decision to penalise Courtney Lawes’s charge down of TJ Perenara’s kick as marginally offside was greeted with a chorus of boos. 

It had seen Underhill cap an impressive display with a run to the line where the forward sidestepped fly half Beauden Barrett in a role reversal.

England coach Eddie Jones was phlegmatic about the decision. 

“Sometimes the game loves you and sometimes it doesn't,” said Jones.

“It always balances out. We’ll get some love from the game further down the track.”

New Zealand coach Steven Hansen was in no doubt about the offside decision.

“There was no doubt he’s offside, he’s just about in the scrum-half’s back pocket.

“What was going through my mind was are they going to be brave enough to make the right decision.”

But England’s performance saw the team return to form as they raced to a 15-0 lead after just 20 minutes of play.

Returning winger Chris Ashton repaid Jones’s faith in his try-scoring ability as he snaffled a score after just two minutes.

After the forwards won a scrum, England took the play through seven passes before scrum-half Ben Youngs’ long pass found Ashton free on the right to dive under the tackle.

Owen Farrell missed the conversion but made up for it minutes later with a well-struck drop-goal.

On the 23rd minute mark Maro Itoje took a fabulous line out to set up a rumbling English driving maul which burst through the All Black defence, co-captain Dylan Hartley claiming the score.

The All Blacks were being harried and hustled out of their stride, but they are masters at keeping in a game.

Eventually relentless pressure on the English line saw Damian McKenzie cross the line.

The usually impeccable Farrell miskicked the restart to gift the All Blacks a scrum on the half-way line. 

The resulting penalty on the 40-minute mark saw England trudge to the dressing room with just a five-point lead.

The All Blacks came out fighting in the second half and a drop-goal and a penalty saw them take the lead.

But in a dogfight in atrocious conditions England lost five line-outs in the second half with man-of-the-match Brodie Retallick stealing three.

Without a functioning set-piece meant the English kicking game was nullified.

In the closing moments England regained possession to line up a drop goal but sloppy handling and decision-making enabled New Zealand to run the clock down.

With so many first-choice players out through injury Jones is rebuilding his team to compete without players like Billy Vunipola and Manu Tuilagi.

The coach praised Underhill’s performance, who made 20 tackles. “I thought he was outstanding today.

“From being very empty at seven we have him and Tom Curry competing, which is fantastic for us.”

Despite the loss, Jones believes the close result bodes well for England’s chances at the World Cup in 2019 where his team could meet the All Blacks in the semi-finals.

“It’s a good step forward as New Zealand are the best team in the world. They have had three months together while we have only had three weeks.

“Our side had 400 caps while they had a team of 800 caps. That is a hell of a difference, and your ability to handle those difficult situations comes down a lot to experience,” said Jones.