England assistant coach Andy Farrell said his side are in a "great place" despite facing the All Blacks after defeats by Australia and South Africa.
Saturday's 16-15 loss to the Boks followed the previous week's 20-14 reverse to Australia and left England still looking for a first win against one of the old Tri-Nations under Stuart Lancaster.
The omens for the English as they return to Twickenham to cap their November/December campaign are not encouraging.
New Zealand, following their 33-10 win over Wales in Cardiff last weekend, are on a 20-match unbeaten run and the All Blacks have won their last nine internationals against England.
Yet Farrell was adamant that England were the better team against the Springboks, having certainly more than matched South Africa up front.
"I have said absolutely nothing (to lift the players)," Farrell said.
"They are in a great place. They have played against two very good teams and the reality of the South Africa game was that we were the best team.
"You can't not be in a good place when you review the game in its entirety.
"There were a couple of places we would like to improve but in the (wet) conditions and in the circumstances we were taking the game to a side who were in good form and had won games recently at a canter.
"We were piling on the pressure and making inroads. Of course there were errors because of the conditions but they made errors too. We were pushing right to the end."
Former dual code international Farrell added: "You play like that against the second best team in the world and you almost win. Sometimes you win these tight games, sometimes you lose them.
"If we produce the same intensity and the same intent you would like to think you will be in any type of Test match."
But if England's forward play, a shaky line-out excepted, gave their fans grounds for optimism, long-standing worries over the effectiveness of their backs once again provided cause for concern.
Even though conditions were far from conducive for a handling game, the lack of passes to players on the run, as opposed to taking the ball from an all but standing start, and the absence of wit in trying to break down a resolute Springbok defence were familiar failings.
Meanwhile the fact a rare counter-attack by Chris Ashton, which could have led to a try on a day when England did not cross South Africa's line, was spoilt by the wing's poor pass added to the frustrations of the Twickenham faithful.
England have struggled to find a reliable midfield playmaker since the retirement of 2003 World Cup winner Will Greenwood and the current centre combination of Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi, while not lacking for physical power, appears short on guile.
However, Farrell made the point that another problem that has often plagued England against the world's best sides - an inability to generate quick ball - explained the lack of attacking threat against the Springboks.
"The rucks against South Africa were so slow that defences were so on top. It is going to be difficult to play any decent attacking game in those conditions," Farrell said.
"But we took the game to them and in broken play we looked dangerous. We were the ones making 50 or 60-metre breaks and we were the ones looking dangerous."
If England found quick ball tough to come by against the Springboks, the chances are it will be even tougher against a New Zealand side, with captain Richie McCaw leading the way, renowned for their work at the breakdown.
"Richie McCaw is the master of biding his time, letting it all unfold and then pouncing to make it accurate," said Farrell of the openside flanker.
"We have to make sure we are on the ball because, like any other team, if we get fast ball, if we get over the gain-line and continuity then we can do some damage."
Comments
kiwilad says...
If being Rankes number 5 in the world, likely to slide to 6, is a great place, then yes they are in it...
This guy is a testament to the old addage, "you can not Beat England, you can just score more points than them"
Posted 23:52 27th November 2012
dropkick says...
Engalnd have lost 9 on the trot against ABs. Average at best in losing to Boks and still they claim they were ther better team. Millions chucked at them and still they are no better than average and any cold headed analysis of the OZ game would rate them as both clueless and gutless.
Note to coach who is obviously doing his best to unpick the lock. The goal is to score tries. Why not focus on that as a simple and clear goal and then we might see a game worth watching. This end of year tour like the last few has turned out to be a non event. Where do we have to go see a decent. For more than a decade the answer has been not the Home Unions.
I would dearly like to see a contest on the pitch not all this pre-match hubris from the English camp. That is all they do these days. Pathetic at the world cup and up for another flogging. ABs by 20.
Posted 20:39 27th November 2012
Trinats2 says...
Read the headlines and though, why are they in Australia ? They are play NZ at home this weekend !!!
Advice to England, when McCaw is off side or lying all over the ball to slow down play, don't hit him illegally. We will never here the end of it !!!
Posted 20:24 27th November 2012
bokbevok says...
England you are in desperate trouble if your coach thinks you are in a great place. You certainly were not the better team and never ever looked like scoring. Lost half your line outs and only had good scrum because of bad ref calls which you should of been penalised for. Second half boks had ascendancy in scrum.
Boks never had to come out of third gear. England you were just rubbish, sorry but a
Fact. Where is your depth as well as nothing to come to boost your team.
Posted 18:16 27th November 2012
grokling says...
"They have played against two very good teams and the reality of the South Africa game was that we were the best team"
Sure mate. You were only calling Aus a good team after they shocked you. The Boks are unbeaten in 11 games against you, and while it was close, you were not the better team. Having more possession and territory doesn't make you the better team, and you can hardly say you were robbed by the Boks.
The reality is actually that you lost 2 games that you were capable of winning. Capable, but not deserving. Big difference. England's biggest problem is that they need to establish a winning habit, and you don't do that by hammering Fiji, followed by the top 3 teams in the world.
Come 6 Nations time, only France will stand in England's way for the title, but this Autumn has come too soon for them.
Posted 18:05 27th November 2012