Lewis Moody insists England's wounded players are "chomping at the bit" to prove their army of critics wrong in Saturday's final autumn showdown against New Zealand.

England have faced a barrage of criticism after an insipid performance in last weekend's 16-9 victory over Argentina followed an 18-9 defeat to Australia. Former England players Josh Lewsey and Will Greenwood have both called for Martin Johnson's assistant coaches to be sacked while Steve Borthwick's position as captain has come under renewed scrutiny.

But Johnson has urged his squad to harness that criticism, saying; "We would be the first people to say that our form last week wasn't good enough and we have to improve on that massively."

He added: "We go into the game as underdogs but we will be chomping at the bit to try to put things right.

"The anxious energy is fizzing at the moment. When anyone is criticised you want to go back at them and show them why that's not the case.

"For us it is about being a team. It is about going out there and leaving no stone unturned on the pitch. You never question an England's team's effort.

"We have just got to go out there and put twice as much passion and pride on the line as we do normally.

"This is the last game of the autumn series and you always want to go out with a bang and we will be making sure we will be crossing every bridge to be there."

Despite Moody's determination, and that of the 21 others tasked with facing the All Blacks, there is no disguising how big a challenge they face.

"The All Blacks are still one of the teams to beat in Test match rugby. How many times have they lost in Britain and Ireland over the last 50 years? Not many," said Johnson. "Any Test against the All Blacks is very special. It would be nice to have a great performance. That is what we strive to do."