Flyhalf Marcus Smith insists replacement George Ford is not to blame for England’s two-run defeat to New Zealand on Saturday.

Smith was an integral part of the England side who built up an eight-point lead when replaced by Ford, who missed the chance to seal victory when he hit the post and scored a last-gasp goal wide .

“As kickers we always practice drop-goal, but it’s very different when you’re in front of 80,000 people and the All Blacks are shouting ‘Drop-goal! Drop-goal!'”

New Zealand took the lead three minutes from time at Twickenham, but as Anton Lienert-Brown misjudged a tackle, Ford had the opportunity to put England back in front.

But he hit the post and was unable to convert an immediate goal to seal the match after New Zealand missed the penalty, leaving the All Blacks victorious and England deflated at the start of their Autumn Nations Series campaign.

“It’s an extremely hard kick – Fordy is a master at it,” Smith added. “We live this scenario week after week.

“We practice it as kickers every day, but sometimes it doesn’t work for you. We’re all human and people miss it.”

England had been dominated in the first half, but Smith played a vital role in keeping the deficit to just two points before half-time and allowed Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to try early in the second half -time to give Steve Borthwick’s men the advantage.

The Harlequins fly-half scored 14 points before his 62nd-minute substitution, with fans wondering why Ford had been brought in to replace him.

Smith has already had his own struggles as a kicker, struggling in another Test defeat to New Zealand, this time in July.

“I learned so much from George. He’s an incredible kicker, both off the tee and off the tee. It was one of those days,” he added.