The pressure mounting on Johnson following the defeat by Australia and the uninspiring manner of the narrow victory over Argentina intensified this week when Josh Lewsey, a World Cup winner with England in 2003, launched a stinging attack on three members of Johnson's coaching staff, Brian Smith, John Wells and Mike Ford.

Lost perspective

Johnson acknowledged that there was pressure on England to improve their performance against New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday and admitted mistakes had been made against Argentina, but he said the criticism had lost perspective.

"Criticism comes with the job and we critique everything we do," he said. "We had a bad performance against Argentina but let's not forget we won against Argentina."

"People pipe up with an opinion but we have to get on with it. We take it with a pinch of salt. Of course I still believe I'm up to it. We're all up to it. You can't deny the pressure is there but you deal with it. We've put a huge amount of work in and no one is more disappointed when it doesn't come off.

"We didn't play as well as we could have done against Argentina but we dug ourselves out of a hole. This is a united group of players who are determined, but they know they have to play better."

Lewsey reserved his harshest words for Wells, the England forwards coach, describing his coaching record as "terrible" and questioning his credentials because he had not played international rugby. But the former Leicester Tigers coach, who has been part of the England set-up since 2006, defended his record.

"We have to accept pressure is part of the job," said Wells, who did represent England B at flanker. "Everyone has a right to an opinion but we can only do our job to the best of our ability. We want to put on a good performance. This weekend is about getting the win. There are good days and there are bad days. I've had a mixture with England and a mixture with Leicester. There's no point denying that I haven't got any international playing experience but I coached for five years at Leicester with seven of the World Cup squad of 2003."

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2009