Stuart Lancaster believes England remain on course to make an impact in next year’s World Cup despite again losing to the holders and No1-ranked team in the world, New Zealand. England were 14-11 ahead at half-time but faded after the interval and a penalty try awarded in the final minute took them to within three points of the All Blacks, but they had no time to mount another attack.
“With another 12 months inside us and some pretty good players on the sidelines we can have confidence in the direction we are moving in,” he said. “We want to win and we will not deviate from the path we are on.
“It was disappointing to lose having been ahead at half-time, but we back ourselves to get better in the coming weeks, starting with South Africa on Saturday. We played some good rugby in the first-half and should have scored more than one try. The most disappointing aspect was that we were unable to close out the match after the interval when we played too much in our own half as the conditions worsened.
“We need to work on the accuracy of our kicking, the pressure we put on ourselves playing in and around our halfway line. When the weather turned New Zealand maximised that opportunity well and when the hooker was in the sin-bin they managed that well as well. We couldn’t get the territory to get close to them in the second half.”
England were without 11 injured players and they lost the second-row Courtney Lawes after 22 minutes after he took a knock on the head and was withdrawn under the concussion protocol. “He will be assessed in the coming days,” said Lancaster.
Steve Hansen, New Zealand’s head coach, said anyone who thought that the next time the two sides meet would be in next year’s World Cup final at Twickenham needed to study the history of the tournament. “We will take pleasure from this win, like any other, but people saying it gives us a psychological advantage ahead of the World Cup is a load of baloney,” he said.
“The World Cup is not about one team; there are five or six capable of winning it and we cannot assume anything, neither can England. I was pleased with the urgency we finally found against England, but they showed that they are developing strength in depth and we are going to have to move up a level next year. History counts for nothing when it comes to a World Cup, as All Black teams have found out over the years.”
