Gareth: I'm on crusade

GARETH THOMAS takes his first steps in rugby league tonight – with a warning for his critics.

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MATT GLOSS: BUT JONNO CAN'T PAINT OVER CRACKS

ABOVE: Matt Banahan is tackled by Argentina's Lucas Borges

15th November 2009

By Neil Fissler

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MATT Banahan eased some of the pressure building on Martin Johnson with his third try in as many games against Argentina.

The Bath winger crossed the line for the only try of the game as the vultures started to circle sensing the blood of the coach.

Johnson could still face calls to stand down after another poor display led to his side being booed off the pitch at half-time.

He has struggled to bring the glory days back to England despite having some of the biggest resources in the
world at his disposal.

And things won’t be getting any easier for 2003 World Cup-winning skipper Johnson with the All Blacks due in town
for their third international next weekend.

But Johnson remains up for the fight and said: “At times in the fi rst half we made individual errors.

The players are happy they won but disappointed with what they did.

“At times it was pretty brutal. It was a disappointing performance. The players know they made mistakes.”

Asked if his team would be ready for next week’s match against New Zealand, Johnson added: “We have to be – we’ll see next week.”

England were being held at 9-9 by the Pumas with just 10 minutes left before James Haskell sparked their one bright moment on a grim afternoon at Twickenham and Banahan finished off the try.

In the first half, Ugo Monye was exposed at full-back as Argentina peppered him with high balls and the Twickenham crowd became so frustrated they began to jeer at the interval whistle.

Banahan acknowledged the result was more important than the performance after the 18-9 defeat to Australia last weekend.

“It was a tough game last week and we said to ourselves we had to win this game,” he said. “It didn’t matter how, as
long as we got the result we wanted.

“It was exhausting in the second half, we were a bit ragged in the first half but we kept the ball in the second half really well.”

England captain Steve Borthwick added: “We know how tough they are to play against.

“We did really well in the second half to build momentum. We managed to lift the speed of the game and got rewarded in the latter quarter. Great credit to the boys for the way we stuck at it.

“We could have played better today but we believe in what we are trying to do here.”