Borthwick rues costly errors

England captain Steve Borthwick admitted after his side's 37-20 defeat to New Zealand that they had to cut out the errors if they were going to compete against the All Blacks.

England captain Steve Borthwick admitted after his side's 37-20 defeat to New Zealand that they had to cut out the errors if they were going to compete against the All Blacks.

Topsy Ojo's two tries on debut apart, the tourists took a battering in Auckland.

“We made a few too many errors and New Zealand were very clinical and every chance they got they took,” he said.

“When they were going forward they were playing really well and we have to look at how to stop that next week.

“We are going to work very hard. The attitude of our boys is faultless but we have to look at the performance and cut the error rate.”

England caretaker coach Rob Andrew said the match had been a valuable learning experience for his side.

“Test match rugby is a brutal place and if you make simple mistakes then you will be punished,” said Andrew.

“It doesn't matter how much hard work you do in other areas, you won't come back [from quick points].

“Fundamentally, we made too many mistakes just before half-time and just after. We allowed the All Blacks too much easy possession and we allowed them too many easy points.

“For vast amounts of the game we were pretty competitive, ironically in the areas we thought New Zealand would challenge us.

“We are learning about players all the time. Test match rugby is a brutal place and if you make simple mistakes you will be punished, no matter how much hard work you do in other areas. There is a lesson for all the players.”

England defence coach Mike Ford, who also cut a forlorn figure at the post-match media conference, said his side had not measured up against the All Blacks.

“That was an important lesson for all of the players,” he said.

“It is pretty embarrassing sat here as defence coach conceding the tries we did.

“We got ripped apart tonight. A bit of structure and one-on-one misses. It's definitely something we have to work on.

“We knew the All Blacks would be good on kick returns – but we were pretty confident with our set-piece defence and it was dreadful tonight.”

But Andrew was impressed by Ojo, who took both his tries in expert fashion. He picked off Carter's offload for the first and then raced onto a kick from fellow debutant Danny Care for the second.

“Both of them were exceptional opportunity tries. He still had a lot of work to do when he got ball but that is why he is here,” said Andrew.

“He took his chances really well and played pretty well in his all-round game.

“There is a lot of disappointment in the dressing room but there are also a lot of positives over some of the aspects of the game we took to the New Zealanders.”