Coach Steve Borthwick and captain Jamie George are confident that a youthful England team can learn from their disappointing Ellis Park experience on Saturday.
The Springboks secured a 45-21 win in their Nations Championship opener, racing into a 17-0 lead before a dominant second-half performance from Rassie Erasmus’ men saw off a fightback from the visitors.
REPORT: Boks overpower England at Ellis Park
Addressing journalists post-match, Borthwick admitted the Boks’ dominance in the air proved decisive.
“There were a couple of critical contest episodes. One of them clearly being in the air, where South Africa did very well with their contestable kicking,” he said. “I think that was clear, and you’ve got to credit South Africa for that.
“They do it very well, and then they force pressure upon the opposition once they get into the 22.”
RASSIE: Boks had to be honest at half-time
England were reduced to 13 men in the second half, with Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper both sin-binned. Borthwick was sympathetic to Freeman’s high tackle on Damian Willemse but pointed to the broader pressure created by the Boks’ approach.
“I don’t regard Tommy Freeman as trying to do anything malicious or reckless there. He’s just trying to make a tackle, and he’s clearly apologetic for tackling high,” he said.
“South Africa put our players under pressure because that’s the way they play. They’re very good, and so then you want execution to be at an incredibly high level. Some young players will learn from this experience of playing against the best in the world.”
PSDT: Boks expected England fightback
Saturday’s result has extended England’s losing run to five Tests, with a trip to Argentina to face Los Pumas next week.
Borthwick pointed to England’s efforts on attack as signs of progress.
“We came here and scored three tries, another disallowed, those are the bits we want to extend. Playing against the best team in the world, it doesn’t get much tougher than that,” he added.
DOOGZ: Boks had to ask some serious questions
George echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“There are some clear things that we need to make sure we get better and as players, we have to take a lot more responsibility with regards to our discipline, which let us down today.
“Outside of that, there were periods of that game where we put the Springboks under a lot of pressure. I was speaking to their guys. They know they’ve been in a Test match.
“We are gutted with the result because we genuinely believe that we can come here and win. We’re going to rally, we’re going to stay tight, and we’re going to get better from the experience.”
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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Coach Steve Borthwick and captain Jamie George are confident that a youthful England team can learn from their disappointing Ellis Park experience on Saturday.
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