- Marcus Smith missed three out of 5 purpose kicks throughout England vs New Zealand
- Steve Borthwick hailed the Smith as ‘magic’ and mentioned ‘everybody makes errors’
- Jamie George added that his aspect had missed a chance to make historical past
Steve Borthwick supplied staunch help to ‘magic’ Marcus Smith, after the England fly-half’s missed kicks proved pricey.
The top coach was philosophical after his aspect’s 16-15 defeat by the All Blacks — and bullish about their prospects within the sequence finale in Auckland on Saturday.
Smith was astray with three of his 5 pictures at purpose, however Borthwick was fast to again him.
‘Within the changing-room, you can sense from all of the gamers a sense of disappointment, as a result of we got down to win,’ he mentioned.
‘There was delight within the effort, but in addition frustration. Marcus produced some moments of magic on the market in the present day.
‘We will discuss errors, however everybody makes errors and Marcus additionally produced magic on that pitch.’
Steve Borthwick has thrown his backing behind ‘magic’ Marcus Smith (centre) regardless of his struggles off the tee towards New Zealand
Borthwick mentioned: ‘We will discuss errors, however everybody makes errors and Marcus additionally produced magic on that pitch’
Smith missed three of the 5 kicks he had at purpose throughout England’s 16-15 defeat by the All Blacks
Reflecting on his workforce’s collective efforts, Borthwick mentioned: ‘There wasn’t a lot in it. There have been two tries apiece and the margins had been very superb.
‘That second half was a correct arm-wrestle in the course of the pitch. It was an actual battle, we’ll evaluation it completely and work out how we could be higher subsequent week.
‘I believed the trouble of the gamers was magnificent, there might be areas to enhance upon and we’ll look intently at them.’
Joe Marler was pressured off within the first half and Borthwick added: ‘Joe’s injured his foot to some extent.
‘He’ll want scans and X-rays; a full evaluation to know what’s going on with it.
‘We don’t know the total extent of it nevertheless it doesn’t look good for subsequent week.’
Jamie George admitted that his aspect had missed a chance to to make historical past in New Zealand
Joe Marler (pictured) was pressured off within the first half with Borthwick confirming he had suffered a foot damage
Requested if it was a missed alternative, England captain Jamie George mentioned: ‘After all it was. We got here right here to win and do one thing that no English workforce have performed for 21 years.’
There was reduction for Scott Robertson after his first sport as All Blacks head coach. ‘We had delight within the jersey and we discovered a method to win,’ he mentioned. ‘We might be higher for this.’
