Chris Robshaw has reacted to a spirited defeat to New Zealand by declaring England must win an RBS 6 Nations title to provide evidence of genuine progress.
The All Blacks avenged last autumn’s Twickenham humiliation with a 30-22 victory in a captivating climax to the QBE Internationals, but they were made to look far from invulnerable.
A side that uses the mantra “We are the most dominant team in the history of the world” for motivation required a moment of genius from Ma’a Nonu, finished by Julian Savea, to preserve their perfect record this year.
The try came after England displayed courage and character to replace a 17-3 deficit with a 22-20 lead, only for Nonu and Savea to intervene in the final quarter.
It was just their second defeat in 11 matches, but Robshaw insists any loss – even to the world champions in a breathless Test – is unacceptable.
“We’re pretty close to where we want to be, but we’re not quite there,” the England captain said. “If we’d beaten New Zealand we’d have been pretty happy, but we’re at that level where you can perform well and get close, but it’s about winning.
“We are improving game by game, week by week and tournament by tournament and we must make sure we continue that.
“We’ve now finished second in the Six Nations for the last two years and the only way for us to improve is to win it. That’s the aim.
“We had a pretty good campaign last season but unfortunately fell short at the final hurdle. The good teams don’t fall short, they take their opportunities.
“The All Blacks didn’t lose a game in the Rugby Championship. They are the benchmark, but we want to be better.”
Missing six British and Irish Lions and counting 528 fewer caps in their starting XV, England entered the match as 1/10 underdogs yet produced comfortably their best performance of the autumn.
“We took the lead and not many teams get into that position against New Zealand with around 20 minutes to go,” Robshaw said.
“It shows how clinical they are and why they’re the best side in the world.
“If they get a sniff they create an opportunity and take it. Once New Zealand get in behind you they get excited and sense blood.
“But our belief was outstanding. The endeavour was there to fight back from the position we were in. The crowd were fantastic in getting us going.
“Every England player gave it their all. We were out on our feet at times, but we stood up and fought for 80 minutes.”