Plenty of positives – Lancaster

Editor

England coach Stuart Lancaster believes there was much his side could take from their 31-12 win over Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday

England coach Stuart Lancaster believes there was much his side could take from their 31-12 win over Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday.

Despite an impressive opening forty minutes, scoring three first-half tries, they were surprisingly disjointed after the break.

Ben Morgan did grab a late try to add gloss to the scoreline, and while England were disappointing in the second-half, the coach was largely satisfied with the performance of his charges.

“Overall there were plenty of positives,” said Lancaster.

“We started the game very brightly, our intent was good and our accuracy was good but we fell away in the second half.”

The coach also praised centre Billy Twelvetrees, who put last week's poor showing against Australia behind him to turn in a fine display, including a try.

“Billy was disappointed with his performance last week but his attitude in training was excellent,” added Lancaster.

“He did well today, brought some composure to our back line and was delighted to get his try.”

Lancaster is refusing to get carried away with the convincing victory, however, with the All Blacks arriving at Twickenham to take on England next Saturday.

“The players are pleased overall with the performance but we are not jumping up and down because we know we have a tough game next week,” acknowledged Lancaster.

“Second half we were a bit loose and it wasn't good enough overall. But I would have taken that scoreline this morning. We've just got to get that consistency for 80 minutes.”