Quitting never been serious consideration for Johnson

Jonny Wilkinson's penalty sealed a 21-20 success on the same ground where the England fly-half's extra-time drop goal secured victory in the 2003 World Cup final over Australia.

It was only the third time that England have beaten Australia Down Under and the first victory against a Tri-Nations team since Johnson's reign began in 2008.

The England manager had to endure criticism after poor autumn and Six Nations campaigns, before the 27-17 first Test defeat against Australia in Perth cast further doubt on his future in the job.

Johnson, who captained the side that won the Webb Ellis Trophy seven years ago, said he has never contemplated quitting and insists any criticism from outside the camp will not affect his management of the team.

"I never came close to thinking about packing it in. Not seriously. Never," he said.

"When you're being criticised you just get on with it and get through it.

"You judge yourself and I'm my harshest critic. My coaches will tell me if I'm doing things wrong and that's the way it should work."

Johnson hailed the impact of scrum-half Ben Youngs, who scored a try on his first Test start, and hopes the team can build some momentum ahead of next year's World Cup in New Zealand.

"What it will do is give the guys a belief that they can win Test matches down here," added the 40-year-old.

"What we need to do whatever happens in the next few days is to go away from here and understand how we can get better with the World Cup just 15 months away.

"The players have to have the hunger and be self-critical.

"Ben Youngs is a classic example of that. He has come in, competed and done very well."

Lewis Moody looks set to retain the England captaincy on a permanent basis after being hailed for his leadership.

The Bath-bound flanker once again suffered a heavy blow to the head, as he did during the first Test and the fog had still not cleared over an hour after the match had finished.

But nothing was going to slow him down on the field and Moody's high-energy performance set the tone for England's remarkable victory.

Saracens lock Steve Borthwick has captained England in every Test he has been fit to play since Johnson took over but England scrum coach Graham Rowntree said of Moody: "He is the barometer of our energy and passion and he's just fantastic – a great leader, a great player and fearless. I'm delighted for him, he's got the utmost respect of everyone here and he produced a big performance."