Thursday 29 March 2018 16:58, UK
England will learn more from their poor Six Nations showing than their history equalling winning run, according to All Black legend Richie McCaw.
The double World Cup-winning captain was speaking to Sky Sports in New Zealand where he followed the recent tournament with interest.
He believes England will grow from the three defeats suffered to Scotland, France and Ireland, and be a better team in time for the World Cup in Japan.
"I think when you've had a good run like they have, they lost one over the last couple of years, you never ever learn your lessons as good as you should when you're winning," said McCaw.
"So, if you are going to have a bad little patch it's better to have it now than when World Cups arrive. They'll be better for it but it has just shown that anything can happen in sport if you are not completely on your game.
"You expect, the way the form has been going that England might have breezed through [the Six Nations], but I think from experience, I know there is not much between all those teams over the years.
"You've got to be really on the job and it's tough. The Scots saw the opportunity and obviously, the Irish are a very good team so it just shows you there's not much between the teams."
When pressed as to how wide he felt the quality gap was, McCaw, who won 148 caps as an All Black said: "I don't think there has been a huge gap, perhaps, tiny. But the Lions showed back last year here in New Zealand that there's not much between the teams.
"You know a year is actually a long time, perhaps the southern hemisphere is not as good as it has been in the past, so it's going to be really intriguing in World Cup year to see where everyone is at."
