Ratings: England fall short
England arrived in Durban up for a tough match against South Africa and didn't back down from the physical challenge.
Having settled under coach Stuart Lancaster following a successful Six Nations with a young team that can take on anyone.
England came out firing and did a great job at the breakdown initially, but were unable to keep the South African's out in the second half when the backs started to find space to play with.
A try from ben Foden at the death will have given them some hope to bounce back next week.
Timmy Hancox rates the English players:
15 Mike Brown:
Did a good job fielding high balls at the back throughout the match and showed glimpses of what he can do on the counter-attack.
7/10
14 Chris Ashton:
Had one or two dangerous breaks, but was tackled from behind by Francois Hougaard and then Jean de Villiers, so his reputation for speed took a bit of a knock.
5/10
13 Manu Tuilagi:
Struggled to break the advantage line, but he still managed a few powerful runs and put in some strong tackles.
6/10
12 Brad Barritt:
The defensive pillar of the side, although he didn't offer much on attack. His tough tackling was badly missed after leaving the field injured.
7/10
11 Ben Foden:
Didn't see a lot of the action, but he did a great job to score the try at the end of the match to give his side some hope for the series.
7/10
10 Owen Farrell:
The young flyhalf looked up for a fight in the physical stuff and kicked for goal well, but didn't offer very much on attack and was pretty one dimensional with ball in hand.
5/10
9 Ben Youngs:
There was nothing wrong with his passing game, but he didn't find any hole to break on his usual sniping runs, while his kicking out of hand was poorly executed.
5/10
8 Ben Morgan:
Gave away several short-arm penalties at the scrum for triggering the engagement too early. He was also caught in possession at the back of a scrum and looked slow and ponderous at times.
4/10
7 Chris Robshaw (captain):
The skipper is a determined fellow and ran about the park making tackles and looking to turn the ball over wherever he could. Not a the best ball carrier, but he threw his body around for the sake of the team.
7/10
6 Tom Johnson:
He has a very busy debut and was effective on the ground winning turnovers in the first half, but faded a little later on. Not the best ball carrier either, but worked hard to make his presence felt.
7/10
5 Geoff Parling:
Did some great work in the line-outs, but didn't do a lot else to write home about.
6/10
4 Mouritz Botha:
SOme very good work counter-rucking and the South African-born player looked right at home in the physical stuff.
6/10
3 Dan Cole:
Made some good tackles in open play for a prop, but was under pressure at scrum time.
5/10
2 Dylan Hartley:
HIs line-out throwing was great, but his general play wasn't up to scratch and he looked more interested in niggling off the ball than playing rugby.
4/10
1 Joe Marler:
Very good in broken play, winning creating turnovers and hitting the rucks, but yet to prove himself in the scrums.
6/10
Replacements:
16 Lee Mears: (On for Dylan Hartley – 72nd minute)
Not long enough to be accurately rated
17 Paul Doran-Jones: (On for Joe Marler – 72nd minute)
Not long enough to be accurately rated
18 Tom Palmer: (On for Mouritz Botha – 58th minute)
Needed more time on the field to make a bigger impact, but he did add some value to the English engine room.
6/10
19 Phil Dowson: (On for Ben Morgan – 62nd minute)
Not long enough to be accurately rated
20 Lee Dickson: (On for ben Youngs – 72nd minute)
Not long enough to be accurately rated
21 Toby Flood: (On for Brad Barritt – 53rd minute)
Miss a few tackles, but has sturding in the midfield.
5/10
22 Jonathan Joseph: (On for Mike Brown – 78th minute)
Not long enough to be accurately rated
