Rugby: England must 'bounce back'
Updated on 24 November 2008
England manager, Martin Johnson, admits the team will have 'a difficult week' after their record 42-6 defeat to South Africa.
The former world-cup winning captain said "I've beaten Springboks in probably three games and not created as many chances as we had today to score tries."
"If we'd not looked like doing anything then you would be really down, but there was gilt-edge chances. They defended very well and stopped us and at times we stopped ourselves. But amongst that if you are conceding 27 points it's still going to be difficult to win the game and we're conceding points.
"There's no point in me saying the score doesn't reflect the play. It does reflect the play, that's the score. That's what we have to live with."
He said the team were "all desolate" but added they "have to bounce back, get their heads up".
England now face New Zealand on Saturday for their last game of the autumn internationals. The All Blacks maintained their reputation as the world's top-ranking team by defeated a valiant Welsh side 29-9 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
"We'll have a difficult week this week with what's happened and we should do," Johnson said.
Johnson was not shy of taking his own share of the responsibility for the team's performance, saying: "I'm in charge of the thing. I'm in charge of it so it ends with me. Full stop."
