England Women’s head coach Gary Street admits his side’s humbling whitewash by New Zealand has given him an indication of exactly what needs to be done ahead of next year’s World Cup.
England headed to New Zealand in search of a first away series win over the Black Ferns for 12 years but after 29-10 and 14-9 defeats, Street’s side sunk to a third straight defeat on Saturday, going down 29-8.
Next year sees France play host to the World Cup where England will be looking to go one better than 2010 when, as RBS 6 Nations champions, they finished as runners-up, going down to New Zealand in the final.
And while Street admits the tour to New Zealand was far from ideal, he believes his side will be in far better shape for next year’s showpiece event.
“This is obviously not the way we wanted to finish the tour but there were still parts of the game that we were pleased with and there are positives,” he said.
“We came here to see where we are 12 months away from the World Cup. To come to New Zealand and play the best opposition around gives us a real indicator of what we have to do before August 2014.”
