But after the euphoria of beating Australia, they were brought back down to earth with a bump against a Springboks side that outmuscled them in the tight and loose.

Despite the defeat though, Johnson is adamant the emergence of the likes of Ben Youngs, Courtney Lawes, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden has given him the building blocks ahead of the 2011 RBS 6 Nations.

He said: “As a group just having the time together and going through ups and downs is huge. I think we've got a team now definitely. Everyone wants to be in it. It's very competitive to get in it.

"No-one's going to sit back and think we're anywhere near there. There is a long way to go and a long way we can go.

"Loads of great pluses. Everyone who has played has played well. For those guys in sub-10, sub-20 Test matches everything is new and absorbed.

"We're far better for getting through a Test series. It's a learning experience emotionally, controlling the ups and downs and dealing with the intensity for some of the guys and they have done it very well really.

“We do expect more. We set our standards and we did not meet those clearly.

“The team's going in the right direction and we can be a pretty good team but consistency is the key.”