Stuart Lancaster has no doubts that his England side earned the respect of New Zealand following their clash at Twickenham on Saturday.
Having stormed to a brilliant comeback to go in front in the second half, the Red Rose suffered a 30-22 defeat at the hands of the world champion All Blacks in an absorbing encounter.
England will tour New Zealand in the summer of 2014 for a three-Test series, and Lancaster feels that the All Blacks will now be expecting a tough set of matches.
"I'd like to think we earned their respect," Lancaster told reporters. "They knew they'd been in a tough Test match.
"After losing at Twickenham last year there was an awful lot of motivation for them coming into this game, probably higher than most other games they've played in.
"That's a powerful force, plus we were facing a starting team that had 842 caps and that was protecting an unbeaten record. To get ourselves to a point where we're disappointed not to have won is a positive reflection on us."
New Zealand now have the chance to win all 14 games of 2013 if they see off Ireland next week in Dublin.
Matt Cotton
