Martin Johnson believes his new-look England side will have discovered what international rugby is all about during the autumn.
Lack of composure a worry for World Cup-winning captain
England team manager Martin Johnson believes his side will have discovered what international rugby is all about after a difficult autumn.
A 32-6 loss to New Zealand made it three straight defeats against southern hemisphere opposition at Twickenham for Johnson's new-look team.
The hosts did at least turn in an improved performance just seven days after their hammering at the hands of South Africa, though they still failed to score a try.
In contrast the All Blacks ran in three, full-back Mils Muliaina bagging a brace, to seal a third ever Grand Slam tour of Europe.
Level
"A lot of our guys were playing a Test series for the first time now know what it physically and mentally takes to play at this level," Johnson told
Sky Sports.
"We know we have lots of guys that can play at this level. We have still got some areas that we need to improve as a team.
"Things like composure, the intangibles. There were times today where we needed to get take a grip on the game and slow it down and we didn't do that and paid for it.
"It feels like three weeks on the trot where we have had the chance to be in a game at half time and then not had the composure or execution, not played well enough in the second half, to do it."
England's cause was not helped by referee Alain Rolland showing four yellow cards during the course of a highly-competitive 80 minutes.
Lee Mears and James Haskell were sin-binned in the first half and then Toby Flood followed soon after the break. Replacement Tom Rees was the last to fall foul of the official in the closing minutes of the game.
While admitting the quartet of cards "didn't help", Johnson refused to use the referee's performance as an excuse for the final scoreline.
Unusual
"The sin-bins didn't help," admitted the World Cup winner. "To have four guys in one game is pretty unusual.
"I haven't seen the incidents but there were times today when we had them under pressure and their guys were in the back of our ruck and we didn't get anything for it.
"Despite that, we have still got to be better. We have to be better at the breakdown. Maybe our guys have really got to learn that Test match rugby is all about pressure. When you make mistakes they kill you.
"They made mistakes but we didn't take our opportunities. We had a chance just after half time to have it go our way and we didn't take it."
Johnson also believes the squad need to improve their fitness, adding: "We can improve there. It's never going to win you the game but it can put you in that position to win the game."
