Chris Robshaw
England captain Chris Robshaw said his team will look to take their frustrations out on South Africa, after a narrow defeat to New Zealand.
Robshaw was frustrated after England let a winning position ebb away against the All Blacks, losing 21-24.
England led 11-5 in the first half and 14-11 at half-time, a display of intensity and control by the forwards – illuminated by Jonny May’s stunning try, when he weaved past Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg with immaculate balance and searing pace.
Despite a disappointing second-half display in which they allowed the Kiwis to race into a 24-14 lead, before a late rally, Robshaw refused to be downcast.
He said they will target the three remaining Tests on their year-end campaign, starting with the Springboks at Twickenham this coming Saturday.
rugby365
Robshaw remains confident that England will bounce back quickly.
“We’d much rather have started with a win, but this will set us up nicely for South Africa,” the flank said.
“That’s going to be another massive physical test for the guys but we will be ready for them.
“It’s important to get this result out of our system quickly and get back on the training ground to prepare for the Springboks.”
Robshaw believes it is important to build on the “huge amount of positives” in the performance, not least the pack’s unsettling of New Zealand in the first 40 and penalty try late in the second to narrow the deficit to just three and set up a potential grandstand finish.
“New Zealand aren’t the best team in the world for no reason,” the England captain said.
“New Zealand played extremely smartly,” he added. “They showed in that second half how efficient they can be.
“But we take a huge amount of positives.
“I’m not sure how many teams have got a penalty try against them [New Zealand] and got dominance there.
“Our maul went extremely well as well.
“Our shape was good, to have a team like New Zealand on the rack in the first half is a big positive.”
England had forced the world champions into eight turnovers before the break (twice the hosts’ number) and Robshaw felt they rattled their illustrious visitors from the off.
“This is our pitch and we wanted to show what we’re about,” he said.
“We’re extremely frustrated,” he said, adding: “We came out here to really set the tone and go and win this game. This is our pitch and we wanted to show what we’re about.
“We were outstanding and the crowd got us going, drowning out the haka with Swing Low and an early try really inspired the guys. First half I thought we were extremely efficient, effective and played in the right areas, guys carried well and everything functioned.
“Unfortunately second half the rain came down and we couldn’t get the field position we would have liked and they held onto the ball extremely well in those conditions and eventually made it pay.”
As Robshaw identified combination of expert game-management from the experienced men in black – they boasted 1.023 caps in their match-day 23 to England’s 437 – and England’s inability to exit appropriately from their own half was eventually his team’s undoing.
With the world’s second ranked team South Africa next to come to Twickenham on Saturday, no doubt smarting after a 15-29 defeat to Ireland in Dublin, the challenge may be different but no less daunting.
* Meanwhile coach Stuart Lancaster recalled 34 players to Pennyhill Park to prepare for Saturday’s ‘Test against South Africa.
Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes will undergo the graduated return to play protocol, after suffering concussion during the first half of the defeat to New Zealand.
Centre Luther Burrell and flyhalf Stephen Myler will remain at Northampton Saints for continued treatment on hand and hamstring injuries respectively.
Lancaster said: “The players have had recovery today [Sunday] and we will review the match as a group tomorrow [Monday], before moving on to preparing for South Africa.”
England squad:
Forwards: Joe Marler, Matt Mullan, Kieran Brookes, Henry Thomas, David Wilson, Dylan Hartley, Rob Webber, Dave Attwood, Graham Kitchener, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes, Calum Clark, James Haskell, Ben Morgan, Chris Robshaw (Captain), Billy Vunipola, Tom Wood
Backs: Danny Care, Lee Dickson, Ben Youngs, Richard Wigglesworth, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Brad Barritt, Kyle Eastmond, Jonathan Joseph, Billy Twelvetrees, Mike Brown, Alex Goode, Jonny May, Jack Nowell, Semesa Rokoduguni, Anthony Watson, Marland Yarde