The one area that left ‘gutted’ Jamie George ‘incredibly impressed’ despite England’s seven-try, 24-point loss to South Africa
Jamie George, inset, has praised England's first-half fightback which included George Martin's try
Stand-in skipper Jamie George has put a brave face on England’s fifth Test defeat in a row, insisting the 45-21 loss to South Africa will help make them become “a good team”.
Steve Borthwick’s side began their Nations Championship campaign with a seven-try, 24-point loss in Johannesburg on Saturday, but George, who is tour captain in the absence of the rested Maro Itoje, used his post-game briefing to spin a message that not all was doom and gloom.
England conceded three early tries at Ellis Park, leaving them trailing 17-0 after just 12 minutes, but they managed to reach the interval trailing by three points and feeling that match-winning momentum had swung their way.
This was a situation that thrilled George, as England could easily have capitulated after falling so heavily behind so early in the match. “Absolutely. I was incredibly impressed with the character we showed,” he said about the fightback following their terrible start.
Big swing of momentum…
“The start wasn’t good enough; going 17-0 down against the Springboks at home is never going to be part of the plan. Equally, the character that we showed and the way that we played from minute 10 to minute 40 was the blueprint of how we wanted to play.
“The Springboks were under pressure at that stage… I had a brief catch-up with a couple of their guys that I know there, and they felt they were under pressure.
“Of course, we felt like the game was in the balance at that stage. There was a big swing of momentum, and it was just disappointing then that we weren’t able to capitalise on the momentum we had.”
England managed to close to within 10 points through Alex Coles’ 68th-minute converted try, but hopes of getting any closer were dashed by yellow cards for Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper, leaving South Africa to break away again on the scoreboard and comfortably see out their win.
“My takeaway was it was a game of very fine margins,” George reflected. “There are some clear things we need to make sure we get better, and players have to take a lot more responsibility with regards to our discipline, which let us down.
“But outside of that there were periods of that game where we put the Springboks under a lot of pressure and I was speaking to their guys; they know they have been in a Test match.
“But what I am agreeing with Steve (Borthwick) is when he says we are going to be a significantly better team off the back of this experience with a young team coming here understanding how we put them under a lot of pressure but also then understanding how we let that pressure get to us a little bit.
“When we play the game that South Africa want to play, it becomes very difficult getting out of that kick battle, the contestable kicking game that they want. When it gets into that cycle, it’s very difficult to get out.
“What we did very well from minute 10 to 40 was we got out of it and then moved the ball and put them under pressure with the ball. So, there are a few things in and around the contestable kicking game that we can get a lot better at, and South Africa have set the benchmark with that for a long period of time.
“We are going to be a much better team from the realisation that we just need to fine-tune some things but, on the whole, there was a lot of good to come out from that game.
“It was always going to be tough coming up against South Africa. We take away the overall feeling is frustration, but we were able to create some good opportunities. If we are able to back that up, then we will be a good team off the back of it.”
Next up for England is a clash with Fiji in Liverpool next Saturday before they take on Argentina in Santiago del Estero on July 18, and George reiterated that good things can happen on the back of their defeat in South Africa.
“As I said, this is going to be a great learning experience for us. We are gutted with the result because we genuinely believed we could come here and win.
“We are going to rally round, we are going to stay tight and we are going to get better from the experience. We are all excited about getting back to Liverpool and putting in a good performance against Fiji.”
READ MORE: England’s two-card trick: the numbers behind a team that keeps sending itself off
