Johno eyes positive display

Boss insists England can respond to criticism

Last updated: 19th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Johno eyes positive display

Johnson: Wants positive reaction

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England manager Martin Johnson insists his side can respond to all the criticism with a positive display against New Zealand on Saturday.

Johnson and the England players have come under fire after below-par displays against Australia and Argentina so far in the autumn internationals.

England have been accused of lacking direction and ideas in attack, with calls for some of Johnson's backroom staff to be axed.

However World Cup-winner Johnson has admitted he has been pleased with the way the players have reacted to all the negative headlines in training.

"You speak about the criticism. It is there, you can't deny it and that comes with being a Test, particularly an England Test player," said Johnson.

"We critique everything we do. What is important to the guys is what they say to each other and they have looked after each other very well.

Consistency

"The players have got to be encouraging to each other. There were times we did some good things on Saturday but we will need to play better if we are to win the game.

"New Zealand are never worse than very good. We need consistency as a group for 80 minutes. Pressure is what it is all about and you do that on the field by being a united group of players.

"If we didn't have that we would have lost against Argentina on Saturday but they found a way to win the game.

"To beat the All Blacks you have to have a solid 80-minute game. They will get points on you at some point and you have to be resilient enough to bounce back."

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