Robinson blames team mistakes for downfall

Jason Robinson insisted England had contributed to their own downfall after they went down to a record 58-10 defeat against South Africa.

Bryan Habana claimed two tries while Percy Montgomery kicked 23 points as South Africa proved far too powerful for a makeshift England side.

South Africa eased into a 30-3 half-time lead with tries by Ashwin Willemse, Habana and Jean de Villiers along with three conversions and three penalties by Montgomery with Jonny Wilkinson slotting home a penalty.

England battled hard in the second half and were rewarded with a well-worked try by James Simpson-Daniel, converted by Wilkinson.

However, tries by Schalk Burger, Francois Steyn, Habana, CJ van der Linde – all converted by Montgomery – saw the hosts complete the milestone rout.

England’s woes worsened as Iain Balshaw was carried off with a serious-looking ankle injury.

England skipper Robinson rued mistakes they had made in the first half which left the team with an impossible task.

“We went in at half-time bitterly disappointed, we gave them two tries and you can’t afford to make basic mistakes against the likes of South Africa,” he said.

“(At the end) we were out on our feet. For the first 25 minutes of the second half we put up a good fight but towards the end they opened us up.

“It was just basic errors. Cut those mistakes out and I don’t think there would be much in the first half.

“We showed character but we weren’t good enough on the day.

“They (South Africa) didn’t do anything I don’t think we couldn’t handle although the score line doesn’t show that.

“We know the errors we made and at this level you just can’t do it.”