England ended world champions New Zealand’s 20-match unbeaten run with a stunning 38-21 victory at Twickenham yesterday.

Tries from Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi helped England, who had been 15-0 up early in the second half, stave off an All Blacks rally that saw the visitors close to within a point at 15-14.

This was England’s record margin of victory over the All Blacks, surpassing a 13-0 success in 1936 and their record score against New Zealand, beating the 31 points they managed in a 31-28 win in 2002.

It was only England’s seventh win in 35 Tests against New Zealand and their first since 2003.

Owen Farrell may have been a shock choice alongside New Zealand’s Dan Carter as one of four nominees for the International Rugby Board player of the year award, but he outplayed his opposing fly-half in a first half that ended with England, against all pre-match predictions, 12-0 ahead.

In all, the 21-year-old kicked 17 points as England ended 2012 on a huge high and ensured New Zealand captain Richie McCaw’s last match before a six-month break ended in defeat.

In Cardiff, a try in the corner by Australia’s Kurtley Beale with 20 seconds left on the clock condemned Wales to a 14-12 defeat.

The loss meant that Wales were forced out of the top-eight seeds for the 2015 World Cup, the draw for which takes place tomorrow.

The game had looked to be going Wales’s way at 12-9 with a minute to play, but Dave Dennis found a metre of space out wide and fed Beale, who outpaced Alex Cuthbert to the corner.