England gave Martin Johnson the victory he demanded but the new coach also admitted there is plenty of work to do.
New boss says Armitage debut the best he's seen
England gave Martin Johnson the victory he demanded in his first game in charge, but the new national team manager also admitted there is plenty of work to do.
Johnson's side scored a 39-13 win against the Pacific Islanders, with Paul Sackey scoring two tries and one each coming from Danny Cipriani, debutant Nick Kennedy and Lee Mears.
Wasps fly-half Cipriani, back after recovering from a career-threatening ankle injury, also kicked 19 points, but it was the performance of another debutant, full-back Delon Armitage, which impressed Johnson most.
He said in the week that achieving a result was what really mattered, and generally appeared satisfied with England's performance on Saturday.
However, Johnson also acknowledged that tougher assignments were to come against the southern hemisphere's top three nations over the next three weeks.
"There are areas of the game where we need to improve a lot," Johnson admitted on
Sky Sports 2.
"But it was a pretty tough game in wet conditions - and we got there in the end.
"It was a difficult first game, with all the 'hoopla' going on around it against dangerous opposition."
Confident
Armitage's confident display, which earned him the 'man-of-the-match' award, was of particular interest to the new team boss.
"I thought he was outstanding. He looked great," said Johnson.
"He has trained like that. But some players train like that and don't play like that.
"I just said to him 'I don't think I have ever seen a better debut'."
Armitage himself was understandably delighted to have begun his international career.
"I always wanted to play for England and show what I can do in front of a big crowd," he said.
"The first five or 10 minutes, I was a bit shaky - but then I got into the game and started to enjoy it."
