George, Smith and Earl react to New Zealand loss
Captain Jamie George, Marcus Smith and Ben Earl react to England's defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park.
Jamie George
“I spoke earlier in the week to the boys about the journey this team has been on. It’s been a long season for us dating back to the start of the World Cup. I think we’re a significantly better team than when we started and there are hugely exciting times ahead for this England team.
“I really don’t think there’s a ceiling for this team. If you look at the age demographic, there are some hugely talented guys who are desperate to learn and it’s an absolute pleasure to be a part of.
“I love New Zealand; it’s an incredible country to come and tour. There’s no shortage of drama here at Eden Park, I’m used to that from 2017!
“Huge congratulations to the All Blacks – they’re a great team. Huge congratulations from Scott and we look forward to playing them again in November.”
Marcus Smith
“All credit to the boys. During the last five weeks, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them on and off the field.
“The camaraderie we showed in Japan and here is credit to the group we’ve got and the people we’ve got in the building.
“Eden Park is a historic place and we had a lot of belief we could do the job and do something special. It came down to the small moments and a few wrong decisions on the edges that turned the tide in the All Blacks’ favour. They are a successful team and when they’re ahead, it’s hard to wrestle momentum back. It’s a tough one to take but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last five weeks.
“If you look at guys like Fin (Baxter) and Ollie (Sleightholme) winning their first caps against the All Blacks, last week was a day they’ll never forget and they built on that nicely.
“We have a young squad – I’m feeling old at the minute – but we are building something. The belief in the group is growing and on another day we get a result, either here or last week, and have something to show for it.
“We’ll take the positives from it but fair play to New Zealand – we’ll give them another go in the autumn.”
Ben Earl
“It has been a long and really enjoyable season. You can see the progression in this team. If someone had said to me at the end of the World Cup that we’d go to New Zealand and come down to eight points over two games, I’d have probably said ‘probably not’. We have come a long way but we have got to learn to win games like this now.
“It just comes down to a bit of street smarts, knowing when you have teams on the rack and on the edge, and making the most of that. We probably didn’t tonight. We have some thinking time now for the summer.
“We are only going to get better because of experiences like this. Someone like Manny (Feyi-Waboso) had not played in a Premiership game before this season so for him to put out a performance like that was so impressive.
“Maro (Itoje) has played his best stuff over the past few weeks, Dan Cole is the second-most capped England player of all time now. There are so many moments in this tour which encourage us.”
