England vs South Africa: Stuart Lancaster admits England threw victory away after suffering fifth straight defeat
England 28 South Africa 31: Head coach believes it was a victory thrown away as winless run against Springboks goes on
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Your support makes all the difference.Stuart Lancaster, England’s head coach, admitted his side had thrown away victory over South Africa by conceding too many easy points.
He said: “We gave points away that they didn’t have to work hard to earn. We have to learn and develop as a group leading into the World Cup and we have ten games to go in which to narrow down [our options].”
England were up against it by half-time, when they trailed 13-6 following Danny Care’s intercepted pass which gifted South Africa their first try.
Lancaster, who now the same win ratio as his predecessor, Martin Johnson – 56 per cent – plans changes for the game against Samoa next weekend.
He said: “When we got back to 20-all we felt we were creating problems and I thought all our replacements made an impact. We are bringing on a lot of guys, starting guys who have fewer than five caps. We will stick to what we believe is the right thing to do, we won’t lose our nerve.
“We have never said we are the finished article, we knew when we took the job on that we had to take a young group of players through some tough environments. We won’t sit here feeling sorry for ourselves. I have to select a side to win the next match but also looking at the 31-man squad that will go to the World Cup.
Care, playing his 50th international, acknowledged a lack of discipline. “Perhaps it’s because we were trying too hard because we so badly wanted to win, especially at Twickenham,” the scrum-half said.
“I know people will write us off now but I know the self-belief there is in this side and that we will come back strong.”
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