Springboks too strong for England

By Mark Stevens
26/11/22

England head coach Eddie Jones admitted he was happy to take the blame for his side’s disappointing end to the Autumn Internationals after they were beaten 27-13 by South Africa at Twickenham.

An error-strewn and under-powered England were comfortably seen off by the world champions in the final fixture of the four-game period.

Springbok wing Kurt-Lee Arendse raced in for a long-range score that helped his side to a healthy lead after a cagey first half - and the visitors turned the screw with Eben Etzebeth ploughing over to make it 24-6 after 51 minutes.

Replacement prop Thomas du Toit's red card for a high shot on Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie briefly offered England hope. But Henry Slade's try was all they could muster against the 14 men as time ticked down.

At the final whistle, Jones apologised for the performance, but said his players were still heading in the right direction, 10 months out from the World Cup.

"We are disappointed we didn't play how we wanted to," said Jones. "South Africa do things to you that are some times difficult to deal with. We didn't land a shot like we wanted to. You have to win contests and we didn't win in the air or the set-piece, so it's hard to get in the game.

"We lost two of the key contests but we will improve in those areas. Results tell you everything and that is what we are judged by but I feel like there is growth in the team, which we have seen, but wasn't evident today."

Jones' side have lost six of 12 Tests in the calendar year, England's worst run since 2008.

Defeat by the Springboks followed a comeback draw against New Zealand, a victory over Japan and a defeat by Argentina in a disappointing autumn schedule.

Asked if he was still confident in his ability to lead the side into next year's World Cup in France, Jones said: "I think about where we are going towards a World Cup. Obviously we want to win games and be successful but are we moving in the right direction? Yes we are.

"I have coached for a number of years and I believe I can coach well. People will say what they say, and there are ups and downs in sport but we didn't play well today and I apologise for that, it's entirely my fault."

He added: "Obviously on results, we are not happy but I feel like we are building a really good base to have a really good go at the World Cup, a really good go.

"A number of young players got great experience today and they'll come back better players for that. We've got other players coming back to form, some of our more senior players and we're not far away. We need to develop consistently. Test match rugby is all about consistency."