'I was stopped in the street': Steve Borthwick claps back at boastful New Zealand public

England head coach has clapped back at the boastful New Zealand public who stopped him “at least 10 times a day” to tell him how much the All Blacks would smash England by.

After coming within one play of a draw at Eden Park, Borthwick remained proud of what his younger England side are building and the way they defied the expectations of New Zealand fans.

Two try assists by Marcus Smith on cross-field kicks to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman gave the visitors a 14-13 lead at half-time.

England led the All Blacks 17-13 with a quarter of the game to go, and ended up one play away from coming away with a draw.

“A lot of people were saying after the first Test that New Zealand were going to get so much better,” Borthwick explained in his post-match review.

“I’ve been told by people in the street about 10 times a day how much we were going to get blown away at Eden Park.

“I was stopped in the street yesterday by a gentlemen who told me that they’d unpicked our rush defence, they knew how we were going to beat it, and I said ‘ok thank you for that’.

“I was told in the lift today that it was a privilege for us to play at Eden Park and we’d be lucky to get away with less than 50 points conceded.

“And the team just kept coming at New Zealand today and just kept fighting.

“When the team went down 24-17, some teams wouldn’t have come back like these guys did.

“Get back to the New Zealand line and try hard to get the seven points for that draw. That’s great credit to them, and I’m very proud to work with them.”

“A lot of people were writing us off.”

On whether Borthwick’s England team had earned the respect of the Kiwi public, Borthwick was unconcerned and said he was more focused on getting his team where they needed to be.

“My concern is firstly with the players being proud of their efforts themselves, and I think they should be,” he siad.

“England rugby supporters of the team are making me proud. My job is to keep making sure I help this team develop, I think we’ve got a lot of work to do, I don’t shy away from that.”

The England head coach clarified that the banter with New Zealand fans was all in good manner and he and the squad have “loved” being in New Zealand, with many players on their first tour to the country.

“I think what a brilliant country to come in tour in, you have that passion for rugby. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, we’ve been here just under three weeks and it’s been a phenomenal few weeks here,” he said.

“The players, the whole management team, have loved being in this fabulous country. To have people so passionate about this incredible sport, it is brilliant.

“Obviously in England we have that passion, but we also have a lot of competing sports.

“I will reiterate how much we have loved being in New Zealand, how we’ve been welcomed in New Zealand, even the stopping in the street has been done in a good manner.

“Getting trapped in the lift, it’s done in a good manner by passionate New Zealand supporters.”