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Rob Andrew says missed chances cost England dear

21/06/2008

Stand-in England manager Rob Andrew says a failure to capitalise on their opportunities was key to the 44-12 loss against New Zealand.

Mathew Tait and Tom Varndell both missed first half chances and with Richard Kahui and Dan Carter - who was typically flawless with the boot - adding tries, the home side led 20-0 at the break.

And former England fly-half Andrew, shepherding the team through the tour before World Cup winner Martin Johnson takes over on July 1st, admitted a lack of ruthlessness led to the tourists' downfall.

"If you don't take your chances, they will take theirs," he told the BBC.

"We should have scored two tries in the first half, that would have given us four tries in the game which would have been a pretty healthy return away from home."

While he said the score had been compounded by the "naivety" of younger players chasing the game, he added: "Again, the spirit was great.

"You can't complain about the efforts the players have put in. But if you don't take your chances and you leave them with too many chances, you will lose down here."

He continued: "You have to be relentless, that's what the All Blacks are and we couldn't sustain that for 80 minutes."

But despite the 2-0 series defeat, Andrew stressed the positive aspect of the tour.

"I think we've learnt a lot, I think it's been a really positive trip from that point of view.

"The guys will be back together in August and we can look forward to the autumn internationals when Martin takes over."

And even with the tour dogged by allegations of sexual assault against four England players - though no formal complaint has been lodged - Andrew dismissed the suggestion that the end of the tour was a relief.

"The guys have had a long year - some of them started training for the World Cup a year ago today - but we knew that was going to be tough and we knew what to expect down here."