England's win over New Zealand came naturally - Tom Wood

England flanker Tom Wood has said Saturday's stunning victory over New Zealand was not a surprise and helped to defy the team's critics.

Stuart Lancaster's men lost autumn internationals against Australia and South Africa before a 38-21 victory over the world champions.

Chris Ashton scores England's second try

England 38-21 New Zealand highlights

Wood told BBC Look East: "It came pretty naturally. I know everyone's surprised that it came out of the blue.

"But from within the camp we were feeling very confident."

England started the autumn with a comfortable 54-12 win over Fiji but went on to lose 20-14 to Australia and 16-15 to South Africa.

They received particular criticism for the manner of the loss to the Springboks, with captain Chris Robshaw instructing Owen Farrell to kick for goal rather than pursue a potentially match-winning try at 16-12 down with two minutes left.

But Northampton Saints forward Wood, man of the match in England's largest points victory over the All Blacks, believes it was a positive series.

England's autumn internationals

  • England 54-12 Fiji
  • England 14-20 Australia
  • England 15-16 South Africa
  • England 38-21 New Zealand

"I thought it was really good all round," said the 26-year-old.

"We've taken some stick but I thought we played Fiji in a professional manner and we were competitive against Australia without getting into full swing.

"I thought we had a great game against South Africa and we took a lot of stick for decision-making and not winning the game outright.

"We're never happy with losing by a point or 'moral victories'. We're not that kind of team. But when we looked back at the game we were quite proud of a lot of what we did.

"To finish on such a high against the All Blacks rounded it off and endorsed what he had been doing and saying all along and gave us a positive boost going into the Six Nations."