Smash Rugby

England coach Martin Johnson has revealed that he is aiming to end the five match tour of down under with a win as his team go to take on New Zealand Maori.

This match is seen as the unofficial third match of the tour and England go in on a slight high after their narrow 21-20 win against Australia last week, a match in which Jonny Wilkinson was the hero, kicking a long range penalty to grab the victory from the jaws of defeat.

Although England will go into the match with the Maori as underdogs, coach Johnson has insisted that his players will be going all out for the win, a victory that will stand them in good stead as the new Rugby Union season approaches.

“We are not here to make up the numbers. We are here to win,” said Johnson.

“The bulk of this team have played well against the Australian Barbarians. They came back from points down in Perth and improved markedly for the second game and won that.

“This is their Test match.”

Johnson has selected Brad Barrit and Phil Dowson for the final test after calling them into the squad late on and Jonno feels that this is the perfect chance for the two, and the rest of the squad, to impress him in time for the new season.

“This was a great chance to get them in,” said Johnson.

“When you are picking a squad there are always some players who are unlucky to miss out who could have come easily. This is an opportunity for those guys to play.

“You are always disappointed to get injuries but this has worked out for us in some regards in that we get to look at them at the highest level.

“When we got Brad we thought, ‘Let’s not bring him all this way to sit on the bench’. It was the same for Phil. We wanted to give him a start.

“They are good guys and were unlucky to miss out, frankly. They are bright enough to know they get a good chance tomorrow.”

England are 4/5 with bet365 to beat the Maori and Ladbrokes are offering even odds.