England fell 9-18 to the Wallabies at Twickenham as an Adam Ashley-Cooper try capped a superb second-half performance from the visitors.
With Johnson's squad hit by a series of injuries - four of the regular tight five were unavailable for selection - defeat was always a possibility for the hosts and a man-of-the-match performance from mercurial scrum-half Will Genia powered Australia to their second consecutive win at Twickenham.
'We started very brightly and had points when they were there,' Johnson said after the defeat.
'It was disappointing to concede the try just before half-time and I think we struggled to get out of our half in the second half. When we did, we kicked a bit too much and gave it back to them.'
He added the visitors were 'that little bit slicker and used to the pace of the test match than we were'.
'We could have given ourselves a better chance,' Johnson said of his injury-hit squad's chances of victory. 'It is what it is but the guys we've got are guys we think can play Test matches.
'We were 6-0 up and playing very well; maybe the pace and intensity of the Test match told for the whole group.'
England face Argentina at Twickenham in the second autumn international, with strong performances from the returning Jonny Wilkinson, Lewis Moody and Steve Thompson a positive to take through until Saturday.
With Johnson's squad hit by a series of injuries - four of the regular tight five were unavailable for selection - defeat was always a possibility for the hosts and a man-of-the-match performance from mercurial scrum-half Will Genia powered Australia to their second consecutive win at Twickenham.
'We started very brightly and had points when they were there,' Johnson said after the defeat.
'It was disappointing to concede the try just before half-time and I think we struggled to get out of our half in the second half. When we did, we kicked a bit too much and gave it back to them.'
He added the visitors were 'that little bit slicker and used to the pace of the test match than we were'.
'We could have given ourselves a better chance,' Johnson said of his injury-hit squad's chances of victory. 'It is what it is but the guys we've got are guys we think can play Test matches.
'We were 6-0 up and playing very well; maybe the pace and intensity of the Test match told for the whole group.'
England face Argentina at Twickenham in the second autumn international, with strong performances from the returning Jonny Wilkinson, Lewis Moody and Steve Thompson a positive to take through until Saturday.
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