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Andrew defends 'tour from hell'

June 21 2008

Tour Manager Rob Andrew denied England had been on another "tour from hell" to New Zealand after suffering a 44-12 defeat to the All Blacks.

England lost the Test series 2-0 and have spent the last week dealing with an allegation of serious sexual assault made against four unnamed players, who deny any wrongdoing.

The original "tour from hell" was in 1998, when Clive Woodward's under-strength England side suffered two hammerings by the All Blacks and heavy defeats to both Australia and South Africa.

But Andrew praised his players' "enormous strength of the character" and believes the tour will stand England in good stead for next season.

"This was certainly not a tour from hell, by any stretch of the imagination," said Andrew.

"We wanted to learn about our younger players as we move towards the autumn internationals and we have learned some really good things.

"We have also learned one or two things about some players we didn't want to learn.

"We have left probably 10 or 12 players at home who are likely to be in the elite squad announced on July 1. Let's have a look at the guys who have performed creditably over the last few weeks.

"I am sure they will be in the squad."

England lost the first Test 37-20 and went down heavily again in Christchurch at the end of a tough week off the field.

England trailed 20-0 at half-time and conceded a total of five tries, with Danny Care and Tom Varndell scoring in reply.

Varndell, Mathew Tait and Tim Payne all came close to scoring but England were not as accurate as the All Blacks' potent back division.

"I think the performance showed enormous strength of character. You can't question their spirit or commitment one bit as far as I am concerned," said Andrew.

"I don't think we deserved to be 20 points down at half-time. We fought back and it was 17-12 in the second half until they scored after the hooter."

Dan Carter was once again the orchestrator of England's downfall, finishing with 22 points for the second time in two Tests.

"New Zealand take every opportunity. They are very clinical. That is one of the main differences between the sides. They finished their chances and there were a couple we should have taken," said defence coach Mike Ford.

"I didn't think New Zealand had to work too hard but we were playing against a guy in Dan Carter who is the smartest 10 in the world."