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Fast start a must against Australians
MARTIN JOHNSON is seeking a quick start from his England team against Australia after a sluggish opening cost them the chance of a famous win against the All Blacks.
New Zealand triumphed 26-16 in the Autumn Internationals opener thanks mainly to the leg up they were offered by Johnson's rusty team in the first 20 minutes.
The All Blacks came into their northern hemisphere tour on the back of a busy season of fixtures which saw them win 15 straight games before losing to the Wallabies in Hong Kong last week.
England, by contrast, were playing their first Test since a ground-breaking win in Australia in June, and it showed as Hosea Gear and Kieran Read put the All Blacks in charge.
Toby Flood kicked 11 points and Dylan Hartley scored a rare try against such formidable opponents in a second-half fightback, but Johnson said: "We need to start at the same pace and tempo as they did, even though at the end we had more conviction.
"For two weeks (in training) we said that if we don't start well we'll be in trouble.
"We were rusty in all areas, and in some places physically and mentally. If you're like that New Zealand are going to hurt you, and they did.
"But to go from 14-0 down to giving ourselves a shot was good. We played with a good tempo and there was lots of chances created. It was always going to be about who took their opportunities, and New Zealand did."
England were on the wrong side of two try decisions that went to the video referee, with Gear's awarded and a late effort from former Bradford rugby league back Shontayne Hape ruled out.
Johnson said: "We created more opportunities today than we have done in the last two games against New Zealand. We should have probably scored at least another try.
"There were certain areas where we were lacking composure but we're talking millimetres.
"Ultimately, we did too many things wrong – the error count and the mistake count – and it's going to count against you.
"There are lots of positives out of the game but we want to set our standards higher than that.
"No-one cares about excuses, we are here to win Test matches."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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