Lancaster - Tour Failure will Motivate England

England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster says that the damaging 3-0 series whitewash for England at the hands of the All Blacks in New Zealand will be motivation for the players.

England were blown away in the first half of the third Test, this Saturday in Hamilton, when the All Blacks raced to a 29-3 lead at the interval.

However, Lancaster has maintained that the heavy defeat will be used as motivation so it never happens again.

Having pushed the World Champions right to the wire in the first two Tests, the shocking half-time margin of the third was devastating to the tourists.

England were beaten 20-15 in Auckland and 28-27 in Dunedin, despite leading for parts of both games.

"If anything, this defeat should fire a steely determination to never let it happen again," said Lancaster.

"We were beaten by a better team and this series has been challenging.

"I'd be very surprised if there are any players who believe the loss has dented their self-belief to a point where they don't believe they can achieve.

"I'll ensure the players use it as strong motivation rather than allowing it to develop into a negative mind-set."

One of the most disappointing things for Lancaster, and the entire England set-up, was the untimely scheduling of the Aviva Premiership final. The Twickenham showpiece between Northampton and Saracens took place just a week before the first Test in Auckland, ruling out an influential number of players from the game.

Lancaster has since insisted that the disruptive fixture congestion must never be repeated.

Eden Park offered the best platform to claim a prized All Blacks scalp and while Lancaster was keen not to retreat behind excuses, rugby's ultimate challenge had clearly been turned into mission impossible.

"To not have your first choice team available was obviously a huge challenge for the first Test and it had a subsequent knock-on effect on selection," he said.

"We can all sit here and talk about changes to the side but everyone in the know knows why those changes were made.

"This scheduling issue has to be sorted and can't be repeated. It is unfair on the players."

England's coaches will spend much of the summer ruminating on an abysmally error-ridden first-half in Hamilton that gifted New Zealand victory.

All Blacks wing Cory Jane revealed that he felt some of the tourists were already thinking of their summer holidays as Savea and Aaron Smith plundered two tries each.

Lancaster denies Jane's claim, insisting England were emotionally ready for the climax to the series, but admits memories of the Hamilton ordeal will linger over the coming weeks.

"That first half performance wasn't good enough and it's a long time until November," said Lancaster.

"It's probably not dissimilar to how New Zealand felt two years ago when they came to Twickenham and lost that game.

"What's important is that we take these lessons and the players get a decent rest as they've had a long season, particularly those who played on the back of the Lions. They need a rest.

"It's about applying lessons and making sure the players are aware what is required to win at the highest level."

New Zealand is the sport's most unforgiving touring destination, yet the All Blacks were pushed close in the first Test and over-run in the opening half of the second.

There were even some pleasing moments in Hamilton after half-time after Lancaster had read the riot act to his under-performing players.

"That final scoreline is obviously 3-0, but in terms of the competitiveness between the teams it's been very even for much of the time," Lancaster said.

"In the first game it was nip and tuck throughout and neither side edged it one way or the other.

"In the second game there was a period when the All Blacks had the ascendency, but we had the ascendency in the first half and played some great rugby.

"The difference between the All Blacks and ourselves is when they have periods of ascendency they convert that into points.

"When we're in the same position, we perhaps didn't do that."