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Young team will be far better for this, says Johnson
Twickenham ENGLAND'S education at the hands of the best teams in the world concluded with another heavy defeat on Saturday – this time to New Zealand – but Martin Johnson remains defiant that his side will benefit from a demanding autumn experience.
Click here to read a match report of England v New Zealand.
Coach Johnson's men responded to the record-breaking defeat to South Africa a week earlier with a much more spirited and aggressive display, but when the All Blacks turned the screw in the second half, England ran out of answers.
New Zealand end the year as the world's No 1 ranked team having won 13 of 15 internationals and completed a third grand slam of the home unions.
The picture is a lot gloomier for England, who have scored only 26 points against the best three teams on the planet in a series of matches that has exposed the alarming gap between the wilting red rose and the Southern Hemisphere superpowers.
"We are disappointed with our performances," conceded Johnson, whose side go into today's draw for the 2011 World Cup group stage in the second pot, meaning they will have to play one of the three Tri Nations sides or Argentina before the knockout stage in New Zealand in three years.
"They are the best teams in the world and are very, very good at what they do, but I still feel we could have done better.
"There are a few pleasing points. Nobody had heard of Delon Armitage before this month, and players like (Leeds-born) Danny Care, Ugo Monye and Riki Flutey have now played the best teams in the world and all know a lot more about what it is about.
"Against these teams you have to work to score your tries. You cannot let your concentration down for a minute.
"We have a young team but they will be far better for this series.
"They had a kick in the guts last week. Today they have gone and played their hearts out and come out second best. It's a harsh world but if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing."
England kept the explosive All Blacks quiet for much of the game until the needless concession of penalties eventually surrendered any momentum their valiant display had earned them.
"Three weeks on the trot we have had the same situation where at half-time we are in the game," added Johnson.
"We had a fantastic opportunity at the start of the second half to give ourselves some momentum. But we didn't take that chance.
"We lost a bit of composure in the second half and when they got their opportunity they took it.
"I'm proud of the players' effort after the week we have had. We had to stand up as a group, and we did."
Flanker James Haskell, one of four England players to be sin-binned, said: "I think we have moved forward, but it's small steps, not the big strides everybody wanted."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
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