New Zealand hold off South Africa 24-17 in Eden Park battle

New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world's top two rugby sides on Saturday.

Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches.

Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time.

Well-held for most of the night, the Springboks rallied with second-half tries by Malcolm Marx and Cobus Reinach to pull within a converted try.

But they had not reckoned with Ardie Savea.

On the night of his 100th test, the All Blacks' back-row enforcer made a heroic turnover in the final minutes to thwart a South Africa raid on the try-line and help to seal the win.

"It was a gutsy performance, I'm just proud of the boys, we knew the Springboks were going to come here and give it to us," said Savea.

"I'm just proud of the way the boys turned up and fronted up."

Fired up on the night of Savea's milestone, the All Blacks started with pace and ferocity to score their first try in the second minute and shot to a 14-0 lead by the 18th.

Playmaker Beauden Barrett set up the opener, kicking cross-field to Narawa on the right wing.

Narawa slipped as he caught the ball but had a clear run at the try-line when covering fullback Willie le Roux ran over the top of him.

While Narawa's game was over with an apparent rib injury minutes later, the All Blacks rolled on.

Fullback Jordan burst clear from a line-out set play to cross by the posts, leaving