England v Argentina, Twickenham, November 14
Johnson: Crowd right to be upset
Scrum.com
November 14, 2009
England team manager Martin Johnson watches on at Twickenham, England v Argentina, Twickenham, London, November 14, 2009
Martin Johnson was not impressed by what he saw from his side against Argentina © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Martin Johnson | Lewis Moody | Jonny Wilkinson
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England team manager Martin Johnson admitted that his side deserved to be booed during Saturday's 16-9 win over Argentina at Twickenham.

The hosts performed dreadfully throughout but were particularly poor during the opening 40 minutes and when the half-time whistle blew with the sides locked at nine points apiece, the crowd made their disappointment known in no uncertain terms.

When asked about the booing after the game, Johnson said: "I think we probably deserved it. Errors really hurt us today. We had far too many. At times we could have kept the ball in hand but didn't. We kicked poorly, we didn't chase well and they put the pressure back on us.

"It ultimately comes down to finding a way to win the game which we did. We have got to improve for next week. We can't produce a performance like that again. It wasn't good.

"At times the crowd had every right not to be happy. A lot of them kept with us and that was great. But we will have to be a lot better than that next week (against New Zealand)."

The one positive for England on a wretched afternoon was the performance of Leicester flanker Lewis Moody, who walked away with the man of the match award after a barnstorming display. Johnson, unsurprisingly, was quick to pay tribute to his fellow World Cup winner.

"Lewis today was outstanding," he said. "He was there on kick-chases and charge-downs. And while Jonny Wilkinson made couple of errors more than normal, his presence just steadies the team. That is what veteran players do."

Argentina had only been together for a week and captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe was proud of his side's efforts - but he expects a much tougher challenge against Wales next weekend.

"In a way we are happy, we are satisfied. We said we should play our gameplan, give everything and put England under pressure," said Lobbe. "We did that. Our defence was really, really good. I am just disappointed that from one little mistake we ended up losing the game. This is the standard we have set for ourselves now.

"We analysed how England were going to play and it didn't surprise us. It will be even tougher at the Millennium Stadium. Wales will have watched this game and discovered where to attack us, and we are going to do the same for their game against Samoa. They have a lot of good players, good impact players, and we have to raise our bar."

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