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KRAKOW, Poland -- Comprehensively outplayed by Italy as they exited the European Championship, Englands players are returning home with captain Steven Gerrard conceding that they must start to improve their ball skills. The English were fortunate to take Sundays quarterfinal match to a penalty shootout, which they lost, after being outclassed in Kyiv. It wasnt an isolated incident. Despite holding France and beating Sweden and Ukraine, England spent a great deal of time on the back foot at Euro 2012. "At times the football hasnt been fantastic, we havent blown people away," Gerrard said Monday. "We stuck together. We fought hard. We gave every inch of effort we can give. At times we have found it difficult to keep the ball." Italy had 64 per cent of possession over the 120 minutes and a pass completion rate of 81 per cent compared with Englands 61. "The possession stats speak for themselves," Gerrard said. "It tells you that moving forward as a nation, we do need to try and improve with the ball." That inability to keep possession was in part due to tiredness as England was left chasing the ball and relying on Scott Parker and Gerrard in the heart of midfield to soak up the pressure, according to coach Roy Hodgson. It didnt help that striker Wayne Rooney was suspended for the first two games and then lacked sharpness when he returned. "If you are saying Could we have kept the ball better at times and could we have made more use of the good situations we got into? I would have to agree with that," Hodgson said before the team flew home. "The players realize that too. That is an area of the game where we need to keep working and improving." A problem, though, continues to be the number of foreign players that keep emerging English talent out of Premier League teams. Hodgson, however, said the squad is moving in the right direction before World Cup qualifying begins against Moldova in September. While Danny Welbeck, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gained valuable tournament experience in Poland and Ukraine, young defenders Kyle Walker and Chris Smalling only missed out through injury. And England sorely missed the creativity midfielder Jack Wilshere would have provided at the heart of the team had he not missed last season with an ankle injury for Arsenal. "There is good reason for optimism," Hodgson said. "We have some players coming through ... we have to see the positives where we can and try and ignore the fact that, yes, it is another failure on paper because we have not got past the quarterfinal stage. "I dont believe there is as much negativity as perhaps there was. But the only way we can build upon what we have done here is by qualifying for Brazil and, when that tournament comes around, trying to better our previous record." Matching more illustrious sides might not come in time for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. "If we accept, at the moment, people like Germany and Spain are better than us, lets work hard to try and narrow that gap," Hodgson said. Key to the development of more technically proficient players will be the opening later this year of a new national football centre, which is emulating Frances Clairefontaine complex. "In the youth development scheme the emphasis now is on small-sided football, skill-based football, passing the ball, less emphasis on physicality, all those things which are on our agenda already," FA chairman David Bernstein told the BBC. "This is not coming from last night. Weve worked on this for years, but I think these things are coming to fruition now, so I do expect to see improvements." Cheap Jerseys Supply . Watch it all unfold LIVE NOW with the pre-game show on TSN. Also available on TSN Mobile TV. In a tradition that dates back to 1949 when the Stamps captured a 20-6 win over Edmonton, this is the most heavily played matchup during rivalry week, with the Eskimos delivering 29 wins in 51 games over the years. Cheap Jerseys No Fees . That means Tim Duncan has been a winner in every home game hes ever played against Golden State, and he wasnt about to let that change Friday night. http://facialhairstyleshq.info/cheapjerseys.html . -- After four years of futility, the Jacksonville Jaguars are heading in a different direction.LA PLATA, Argentina -- A Cory Jane hat-trick led New Zealand to a dominant 54-15 victory over Argentina on Saturday to secure the Rugby Championship title for the world champions. Julian Savea added two tries -- bringing his tally to five tries in five tests -- as the All Blacks overpowered Argentina, which has yet to win in five matches in the new four-nation championship. The victory gave the defending World Cup champions an unassailable nine-point lead atop the standings with one round of matches to go in the tournament, allowing them to add the first Rugby Championship trophy to the Bledisloe Cup and Webb Ellis Cup. It was the 15th-straight victory for the All Blacks, who have also won 15 of 16 matches against Argentina. The other match was a draw. It was also their most lopsided victory against Argentina in Argentina, larger than a 36-6 victory in 1991. New Zealand fell behind 5-0 on an 8th-minute try by Martin Landajo, who split open the All Blacks defence on a long, angled run toward the right corner, delighting the 45,000 sellout crowd in the coastal city of La Plata. It didnt last, as the world champion All Blacks showed their class in tearing apart Argentinas defence at will. "Its a hell of a place to play here and we probably gave them a bit of a start there -- conceding the first try -- but we showed composure," captain Richie McCaw said. "Its easy to get caught up in (the atmosphere) and go a bit quiet. But the boys stuck to it and every opportunity pretty much we got tonight we took." New Zealand grabbed the lead -- for good -- in the 16th on Aaron Smiths try and Dan Carters conversion. It was never close after that. Carter extended New Zealands lead with a penalty before Jane gave New Zealand a decisive 17-5 lead with his first try in the 24th minute. Flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez clawed back three points with a penalty which carried him past 100 points in tests before Carter goaled again. Savea then broke the Pumas hearts with a length of the field try against the run of play. Argentina was threatening New Zealands line when backrower Keiran Read made a tackle that dislodged the ball from a Pumas attacker. Savea kicked threw and showed exceptional soccer skills to control the ball for 80 metres. His second try seven minutes later gave New Zealand an unassailable 32-8 lead at halftime. "We were excited (about scoring the first try) but we met a really good team today and I think today we made more mistakes than usual, and every time we did a mistake they made it seven points,"t; Argentina captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe said.dddddddddddd "So it was very tough, but there are lessons to be learned." Argentina closes out the championship next week against Australia in Rosario, Argentina. New Zealand finishes with South Africa. "We set out to win the championship from day one, and to be able to do it so early is a reflection on how well the boys have worked and how well theyve played," New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said. "We train all week to do things with purpose and accuracy in our execution and by and large tonight we achieved that." He said he was not surprised Argentina scored first. "I think thats what youre going to get sometimes in an atmosphere like this," he said. "We were a bit jittery, particularly in the first five or 10 minutes. "I think Argentine fans would be disappointed that they werent closer on the scoreboard but they should be thoroughly proud of their team becausee they never gave up at any stage and were playing just as hard at the end as they were at the beginning." It was a disappointing match for the Pumas, who have otherwise been impressive in their first appearance in the premier southern hemisphere tournament. "There is still a big difference between us and them," Argentina coach Santiago Phelan said. "They play with intensity and precision, something we lack." As soon as New Zealand took the lead, it began to build on it with slick ball handling and better speed than the Pumas. Argentinas Gonzalo Camacho opened the second half with a try to cut the lead to 32-15, before Jane responded in the 51st to push New Zealand ahead 37-15. Maa Nonu added another try in the 60th with the lead growing to 44-15 and Aaron Cruden added a penalty in the 66th to make it 47-15. Jane added his third try in the final minute with Cruden adding the conversion to complete the rout. "Its probably one of our best performances of the season," McCaw said. "When we started out four or six weeks ago the goal was to put last year behind us. "Weve got the tag of world champions and we needed to play like that. To secure the Rugby Championship was obviously the big goal and its nice to be able to do that." ------ New Zealand 54 (Cory Jane 3, Julian Savea 2, Aaron Smith, Maa Nonu tries; Dan Carter 3 conversions, 2 penalties; Aaron Cruden 2 conversions, penalty) defeated Argentina 15 (Martin Landajo, Gonzalo Camacho tries; Juan Martin Hernandez conversion, penalty). HT 32-8. ' ' '