Steve Borthwick gives defiant England verdict after New Zealand agony | Rugby | Sport

Defiant Steve Borthwick insisted his England side were still on the way up despite another day of despair at Twickenham.

Borthwick’s crew went down 24-22 to New Zealand with George Ford missing a penalty and a drop goal to win the game. 

This is the third game on the spin they have not got the job done against the Kiwis after two misses in the summer down under.

But Borthwick claimed England are improving and things can only get better on the scoreboard.

The head coach said: “They had 10 players from the World Cup final and had more caps in their 15 than we had in our 23. We didn’t get the win we wanted but everyone can see this team is developing into a very strong team.

“But New Zealand are a quality side and since we last played together they have had seven Test matches and been together three months.”

England had led 22-14 on the hour, then trailed going by two points going into the red and came up short. It leaves the 23-22 win over Ireland in March as they only time this year they have got a tight game against a top four side over the line.

Borthwick added: “When you are in a position when you are winning by the margin we were at that time, there is clearly an opportunity to win the game.

“It is pretty clear why we didn’t against a very good New Zealand team. We gave them a window to get back and they did it.”

All Black Scott Barrett breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the game whilst Borthwick was left staring at his  laptop in the coaches’ box in disbelief.

Barrett said: “They had every opportunity to win it. Going back to the last series, there have been three tight encounters and they had the opportunities to get their nose in front.

“They are a dangerous team,but we potentially played a bit more rugby than them. I was pleased with our endeavour.” 

England now have to pick themselves up for the visit of Australia next week followed by the world champions a week later.