ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS: Which player looked devastating against New Zealand on the heels of his breakthrough season? And who looked short of match practice in Auckland?

England lost 24-17 to New Zealand in Auckland, allowing the All Blacks to win the series 2-0.

Steve Borthwick’s team were narrowly eliminated for the second week in succession, with the home side maintaining their excellent record of not losing at Eden Park since 1994.

The All Blacks were four points behind until World Player of the Year Beauden Barrett came on as a substitute and led them to victory.

MailSport’s Alex Bywater rates the players.

ENGLAND

Freddie Steward – 5, Replacement for injured George Furbank. Too often caught by New Zealand tacklers in the backfield and exposed on the edge for second home try. Understandably it looked like he couldn’t keep up with match training.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – 8.5A player with so much promise. Capped breakthrough season with a beautiful finish. Devastating in attack and reliable in defense. Always hungry for work and now a key figure.

Henry Slade – 6He plays a crucial role in England’s blitz defence system which continues to improve, helping to stop New Zealand’s attacks but it wasn’t enough to secure victory.

Ollie Lawrence – 5.5, His first offensive carry ended in a knock-on and we didn’t see him involved enough in the attack. He was penalized on the spot for obstruction.

Tommy Freeman – 8, Good defending stopped Codie Taylor and he then scored a crucial try just before half time to give his team a small lead. Impressive.

Marcus Smith – 8.5, A long-range drop goal didn’t come close but he produced two excellent cross-kicks to set up tries for Feyi-Waboso and Freeman and brilliant last-ditch defending stopped a home goal. Also shot well off the tee. Surprisingly substituted but returned at full-back after Steward suffered a head injury.

Alex Mitchell – 6, Moves the ball well to both sides of the ruck. Wasn’t helped by England not being at their best on the breakdown, especially at the end. Went the full 80.

Fin Baxter – 7, First test start and really built on last week’s debut. Carried and tackled his heart out and held on for 69 minutes. Will definitely be a regular in the future.

Jamie George (capt) – 6.5, A great leader of men who had to play the full 80 after his replacement Theo Dan only lasted seconds. Will be devastated to have lost again.

Will Stuart – 5.5, Part of an England scrum under pressure and collapsed once. Good work around the park but was replaced soon after the break.

Maro Itoje – 6.5, Took two penalties in the first half and two more in the last quarter. Otherwise a thorn in New Zealand’s side and helped disrupt a poor home lineout, but his poor discipline hurt England at key moments.

George Martin – 7.5, He has gained a lot of admirers in New Zealand, which is no mean feat. He never backs down and got Jordie Barrett in one skirmish.

Chandler Cunningham-South – 7, Beaten back in the early carry by two All Black tackles, but he also did more than his fair share of damage and has proven to be a real find.

Sam Underhill – 6.5, He waved away a tap and gave a great performance for 50 minutes before making way for Tom Curry.

Ben Earl – 6, Arguably one of England’s best players this season but didn’t quite reach his peak in Auckland. Awarded penalty to make it 13-7 for New Zealand.

Coach: Steve Borthwick – 6

Replacements:

Theo Dan (for George, 50) – 5, Almost immediately after coming on after a nasty blow, he was sent off the field for examination of his head injury.

Bevan Rodd (for Baxter, 69) – 5.5, He struggled to match and struggled with All Black replacement Fletcher Newell, who had a big impact.

Dan Cole (for Stuart, 50) – 6Rose to second place in the list of most-played players for the England men’s national football team when he came on as a second-half substitute for his 115th international match.

Alex Coles (for Cunningham-South, 63) – 5Beeped by the referee next to Itoje for a penalty that decided the match for New Zealand.

Tom Curry (for Underhill, 50) – 6, Gave everything, but is still working to get back to full fitness after a serious hip injury.

Fin Smith (for M Smith, 63) – 5, Couldn’t make a comeback at No. 10 after replacing namesake Marcus.

Ollie Sleightholme (for Feyi-Waboso, 69) – 6.5, With a swift run down the left flank as England chased the game, he showed what he can do.

Replacement not used: Ben Spencer

New Zealand

S Perofeta 5 (B Barrett 50, 8.5); S Reece 6.5, R Ioane 5.5 (A Lienert-Brown 60.5.5), J Barrett 7, M Tele’a 8.5; D McKenzie 7.5, F Christie 6.5 (C Ratima 54.6); E De Groot 5,5 (O Tu’ungafasi 50,6,5), C Taylor 5,5 (A Aumua 65,7,5), T Lomax 6,5 (F Newell 55,8), S Barrett (capt ) 7, P Tuipulotu 6 (T Vaa’ Ik 55,6.5), S Finau 6 (L Jacobson 50,6.5), D Papali’I 7, A Savea 8

Goal Scorers

New Zealand

Try: Phone 11, 61 Cons: McKenzie 13 Pens: McKenzie 21,38, 69, 75

England

Trying: Feyi-Waboso 14, Freeman 40+1 Cons: M Smith 15, 40+3 Pen: M Smith 49

Referee: Nic Berry (Australia) – 6