England have been knocked out from the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Getty
England has paid the price for trying to copy the All Blacks without the skill level to be able to do it.
That's the view of New Zealand's 2011 World Cup-winning coach Sir Graham Henry who said England's effort against Australia today demonstrated they don't have the skills to compete
at the highest level.
"It could have been embarrassing," Henry told Newtalk ZB sports host Tony Veitch of the final 33-13 scoreline. "The English boys give it 100 per cent they just simply weren't good enough."
"I think they've been playing the wrong game for a long time. They are trying to simulate the way the All Blacks play and I don't think they have the skill level to do that because they simply don't come from that sort of environment. They've changed their game in recent years and it hasn't been successful.
"So (head coach Stuart) Lancaster will get some stick in the press. He's tried hard Stuart, no doubt about that. He has good standards in his team, good culture but they're not good enough at this level."
Henry agreed the match underlined that Australia is bonafide Cup contender.
