Rate it!

11 votes

Martin Johnson refused to dismiss England as a "lost cause" as the curtain was brought down on a tortuous autumn with a record 32-6 defeat by New Zealand.

The All Blacks secured their biggest victory at Twickenham with Mils Muliaina crossing twice and man of the match Ma'a Nonu adding a third try.

Dan Carter kicked 17 points as New Zealand completed their third Grand Slam tour and condemned Johnson to a trio of landslide losses in his first three games in charge.

"We turned up and played but that is the absolute minimum for us. We have to learn the lessons of this autumn heading into the Six Nations," Johnson said.

"It's not a lost cause and the players will be far better for this series.

"They had a kick in the teeth today. It's a harsh world but they need to learn from what's happened.

"I was proud of the players' effort. We had to stand up after what happened against South Africa (when they suffered a 42-6 loss) and we did that very well.

"We gave ourselves a chance but we were just not good enough to take it. Mentally the way the players approached the week was good.

"Some guys have a lot to learn as a team - mainly that you make mistakes at this level and you get killed.

"The coaching team has faced some heavy and undeserved criticism and they held things together very well this week."

England were hamstrung by some appalling discipline that saw four players sin-binned and gave a string of penalties to Carter, who missed five shots at goal in a rare off-day.

The course of the match may have been altered had Nick Easter finished a chance just seconds after the interval and Johnson admitted it felt like groundhog day.

"It's getting a bit old for us to say the margins are small," he said.

"Dan Carter missed some kicks today and that was worth paying money to see as it doesn't happen often.

"For the last three weeks we were still in the game at half-time. We had a fantastic opportunity after half-time which would have given us momentum.

"We competed and both defences were on top. We made a very good attacking team look average at times, but we must improve on our second-half performances.

"I haven't seen each individual sin-binning but to have four guys go in one game is unusual."

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was delighted by an unbeaten tour that finished with a ninth successive victory - and had a word of praise for England.

"This result epitomises what we've been doing all year," he said.

"We showed a lot of character in the first half, hung in there and then dominated in the last 20 minutes.

"That proves the backbone of the team. The guys have won all of the trophies available to them this year.

"We did the business and the boys have been superb. Winning a Grand Slam is difficult to do, it's only been done three times now.

"England played with a lot of character. They put a lot of pressure on us, were huge physically and tried exceptionally hard.

"There are not a lot of caps in that team and they will get better. I think Martin will be happy with the progress they made this week."

James Haskell has urged England fans to keep the faith because he believes the results will come underJohnson.

"Anyone watching at home who cares about English rugby should know we have the passion, we have the ability," the flanker told Sky Sports. "It comes down to execution and ruthlessness. We will do it.

"When you're building something new, it takes time."

England were made to pay for some indiscipline as the All Blacks built a 12-3 half-time lead before running in a pair of tries after the break.

"We were penalised quite a bit and you can't afford to have that against a side like New Zealand," Haskell said. "The scoreline was pretty flattering to the opposition. At times we were pretty good."

However, Haskell refused to criticise the referee despite England being shown four yellow cards.

"At this level you've got play to the referee, play to his interpretation. We didn't do that today and it's very disappointing."

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw was proud of the way his team played patiently in the first-half before punishing English mistakes later in the game.

"I think in the end, especially in the last 20 minutes of the game we benefited from a couple of mistakes and there might have been a few more," he said.

"A lot of what happens in the end is a result of what we did in the first half. We saw what was going to work and what's not. It's an 80 minute game."

The All Blacks have now emerged from a successful Grand Slam tour without conceding a try and McCaw pointed to the emphasis on defence.

"I think that indicates the attitude and the heart of the team, defence," he said. "It's what wins games."

Sporting Life / Eurosport