Burgess proud of his players

Sam Burgess he was disappointed with the one-point defeat to New Zealand but extremely proud of England‘s players.

Burgess’ first match as England captain ended with a gutting 17-16 loss this afternoon at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“I’m disappointed with the result but extremely proud of the players,” he said.

“New Zealand did very well to win the game today. They’re a good team. We gifted them a couple of tries.

“Good teams will close it out. Full credit to New Zealand.

“Taking nothing away from the Kiwi side, but we certainly gifted a few things there and made it hard for ourselve with a few silly plays, penalties, errors at crucial times in the game.

“We probably just made it too hard on ourselves.”

Burgess denied that the confidence of the England team had taken a hit with the defeat.

“We had a chat together as a group on the field,” he said.

“The character we showed to defend certainly gives us confidence and belief moving forward in this competition.

“We’re looking at improving on a daily basis. We’ll take it day by day.

“We’ve been together two weeks and we’ve improved a hell of a lot in that time.”