Steve Borthwick reckons England are "banging on the door" of the elite nations after their close loss to New Zealand.
England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.
Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.
England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.
But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.
"It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.
"When we started two years ago we wanted to get England right to the top of world rugby again. You can see the team banging on the door."
With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.
Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.
Next up for England are Australia, with fixtures against South Africa and Japan also in store.
"We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.
"Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."
England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.
"That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."
England on top in Wellington after scintillating Brook century
Harry Brook smashed an incredible century and Brydon Carse followed up with crucial wickets as England ended day one of their second Test against New Zealand in a commanding position.
England had initially been reduced to 43-4 after batting first and were indebted to Brook, who hit 123 from 115 deliveries to claim his second ton in as many matches.
Brook and Ollie Pope (66) put on a 174-run stand for the fifth wicket to get the tourists' innings back on track.
"I think that might be my favourite hundred so far, I enjoyed that one a lot," a delighted Brook said.
"Most of the balls came out of the middle of the bat and it feels pretty special to be batting like that.
"We were three down when I came in and the pitch was doing quite a bit. It was seaming and swinging, so I'm just glad I put my attacking mode on. I really took it to them and put them under a lot of pressure.
"They had to try and bowl at the stumps early on and I felt like the time to run down was then, cash in when it's full.
"I just tried to take them off their length and stop them bowling on the stumps. The best mode of defence for me was attack and thankfully it came off."
With Zak Crawley (17), who hit a six in the first over, top-scoring within the first four wickets and Chris Woakes (18) after Brook and Pope, it is not an exaggeration to say that England largely owe their score of 280 to two batsmen.
But it was not until the changeover that the value of their partnership came to the fore, with England's bowlers able to claim important wickets to leave New Zealand 86-5 at stumps.
Gus Atkinson, Ben Stokes and Woakes all claimed one wicket each, with Carse taking 2-28.
Kane Williamson (37) had survived a caught behind review and being balled off a no-ball from Carse before the fast bowler finally got his man.
Carse had a hand in the final three wickets of the day, having executed a diving catch to get Rachin Ravindra, before Williamson and Daryl Mitchell were both caught off his deliveries.
Data debrief: Brook and Carse get England on top
Brook's century in Wellington was the eighth of his career and second in as many Tests.
He got to 100 in just 91 balls, while his fifth-wicket stand with Pope also came at more than one run per ball. Carse, meanwhile, contributed to a period in which New Zealand lost four wickets for just 27 runs.
The Black Caps are aiming for a sixth Test win of 2024, which would be the most victories they have recorded in a single calendar year, but they have plenty of work to do if they are to achieve that feat.
England captain Ben Stokes is confident that opener Zak Crawley can improve his poor record against New Zealand in the second Test in Wellington.
During England's eight-wicket triumph in the first Test, Crawley scored just one run from 20 deliveries across his two innings, with Matt Henry dismissing him on both occasions.
That subsequently brought his batting average down to 9.88 against New Zealand, having struggled in his nine Tests and 17 innings against the Kiwis.
Since 2000, only West Indies' Marlon Samuels (9.81 against Sri Lanka) has played as many innings against the same opponents and ended with a lower batting average.
"Some guys have bogey teams, some guys have teams they do really well against," Stokes told BBC Sport.
"We're one Test match into a series against New Zealand, but over the past 18 months Zak has been absolutely phenomenal for us."
Stokes did, however, point to the job done by Crawley and his opening partner Ben Duckett in setting the tone at the beginning of an England innings.
Of all pairs to have opened at least 10 times for England in Tests, Crawley and Duckett's run-rate of 5.03 is at least a run faster than the next quickest, which is Crawley and Alex Lees.
"Those two have been such a successful pairing for us," added Stokes.
"They go out there with a mindset of putting the opposition bowlers under pressure straight away, not allowing them to settle in."
Both England and New Zealand are unchanged for the second Test in Wellington, with Chris Woakes named among the squad despite his poor away record.
Woakes' wickets cost an average of 51.4 runs compared to 21.6 at home, but he did make a crucial intervention in the first Test in Christchurch.
During New Zealand's second innings, he grabbed the wickets of Kane Williamson (61) and Tom Blundell (0) in successive deliveries on his way to figures of 3-59.
"Someone with his skill level should never doubt themselves wherever they are in the world," said Stokes.
"It's belief in himself, belief from myself and Brendon McCullum that he's not just someone who is going to be playing in England."
An England victory in Wellington would also secure their first series win in New Zealand since 2008.
Archer must build fitness to 'handle extra pressure' of Test cricket, says Stokes
Ben Stokes says Jofra Archer must build up his fitness to handle the "extra pressure of a Test match", after the pace bowler extended his contract with England up to September 2026.
Archer has not played a Test since 2021, with back and elbow injuries severely hampering his progress.
England have carefully managed the 29-year-old's involvement, and he has been part of their white-ball setup since May.
Although, it remains to be seen whether he will be involved in next year's five-match series with India or the Ashes, after he was signed by Rajasthan Royals in the recent Indian Premier League auction.
That means he will miss the early part of the 2025 County Championship season with Sussex due to an overlap in the competitions, and his red-ball action will be limited ahead of the series with India.
"The excitement is understandable around Jofra," Stokes said. "The best thing is he is back on the field playing.
"The injuries and surgeries he has gone through could have ended careers, so there is no rushing back.
"No doubt he is going so well at the moment. He will have to build the body up to handle the extra pressure of a Test match."
Jacob Bethell has also signed a new two-year deal with England, while seamers Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse have extended for another year.
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