Autumn Nations Series: Maro Itoje insists England are no longer 'clutching at straws' after narrow New Zealand loss
Published 03/11/2024 at 21:50 GMT
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Maro Itoje is confident England are getting better, despite a third successive defeat to New Zealand. Steve Borthwick's side kicked off their Autumn Nations Series campaign with a 24-22 loss to the All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday. But Itoje said the performance showed the team are "building in a positive direction" ahead of Saturday's clash with Australia - live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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Maro Itoje insists England are "building in a positive direction," despite suffering a third successive defeat to New Zealand.
The hosts lost in agonising fashion in their Autumn Nations Series opener at Twickenham on Saturday, as Mark Tele'a scored a late try and Damian McKenzie kicked the conversion to earn the All Blacks a narrow 24-22 victory.
Steve Borthwick's side still had a chance to claim what would have been a famous success, only for George Ford to miss a last-gasp drop goal.
But Itoje, who represented his country for the 84th time in the game, says there was plenty to like about the way England played.
“We will get there,“ Itoje told the Press Association. “We have to lick our wounds and take our medicine at the moment, but this team is building in a positive direction.
“I have been part of a few teams and you get a sense of when a team is moving in the right direction.
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“I think we are growing in the right areas of the game, we are aggressive in attack and there is a general feel of confidence and vibe amongst the players."
Saturday's defeat means England have only won one of their 11 meetings with New Zealand since 2012.
Three of those losses have come since the start of July, while 2024 has yielded only four wins from nine outings.
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They are, however, near the start of a new World Cup cycle. There are still three years to go until the next edition of the tournament takes place in Australia in 2027.
The Wallabies are next up for England on Saturday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+, with further fixtures to come this month against South Africa and Japan.
Itoje believes those three fixtures present England with a chance to make a statement ahead of next year's Six Nations.
“We have had some agonising losses, but this is a different team to what it was 18 months ago with the way we play, the endeavour we show," he continued.
“Sometimes in the past when we lost, they were clear losses and we were clutching at straws. I don’t feel we are clutching at straws now. We lost but we’re close.
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“It did not feel like we were playing a team that was by far better than us and we were surviving.
“We actually felt we deserved to win the game, but ultimately we didn’t and that’s the most important thing.
“But I do feel like we are genuinely moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, we will have to take our medicine now, but I think we will get it.”
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