Johnson: We were right in it

Shaun Johnson has denied Australia has a mental advantage over New Zealand again as the Kangaroos notched their straight win over the Kiwis this year.

Australia prevailed 14-8 in Coventry on Saturday. Johnson almost tied it up with a late try but he was held up over the line.

After New Zealand defeated the Kangaroos twice in the 2014 Four Nations and then in the 2015 Anzac Test, the Kangaroos have emerged triumphant in their three meetings in 2016.

But Johnson doesn’t believe the green and gold hold any mental edge.

“No – and that’s probably what, for us, has come out of today,” he said.

“The first question here was ‘is it one that got away?’ To me that suggests we were right in it the whole time.

“We definitely don’t think they have that mental advantage over us. It’s a game that we weren’t good enough in again. They executed when they had to.

“They were the better team.   This is probably a bit of a different interview, isn’t it, if I get the ball down at the end there.

“I felt I was in the game the whole time tonight. I was looking for opportunities.

“They are a very good side, so sometimes it takes to the 70th, 75th minute to find a gap or exploit something.

“I’ll keep sniffing … and the boys kept trying all game.”

Johnson said the Kiwis will go back to training to work on their game after a slow start in the first half.

“I thought their outside backs got their sets rolling far too easy and then at times, with our last plays of the set, they put a heap of pressure on and we just came up with wrong options or didn’t execute,” he said.

“So look it’s not just one area, it never is just one area, there’s a couple of areas that I think we can definitely get better at which will help our game massively.”