Jamie George optimistic despite England defeat by South Africa in Autumn Nations Series – ‘Couldn’t be more confident’

Jamie George said he “couldn’t be more confident” in England’s future despite a fifth straight defeat after defeating South Africa at Twickenham.

It came after England unraveled in the final five minutes against New Zealand and Australia in their previous outings, with Borthwick under increasing pressure after a string of narrow defeats.

“It’s one of those games with small margins,” England captain George told TNT Sports. “I think we looked good at times in large parts of all the games in the last five, but the last part wasn’t quite there yet.

“5% off, missed tackles, discipline. The last five games it was probably a different cause, but fundamentally I think we are close.

“We just have to keep working hard and keep our heads down and we will be fine.”

If the fireworks and dazzling pre-match light show hadn’t proven England were up for the challenge, a try inside three minutes from Ollie Sleightholme would have done the job. Marcus Smith formed for a drop goal but cut left to avoid Eben Etzebeth and passed to Henry Slade, who converted the voracious Sleightholme.

But it woke the Springboks up and basic errors from England started to appear. South African scrum-half Grant Williams, called up to the team for his cutting attack on the edge of the ruck, left Ellis Genge, George Martin and Freddie Steward for dead to score.

A second attempt soon came when a blocker-less Jack van Poortvliet saw his box kick charged down by Etzebeth and Smith’s free-kick was then blocked by Pieter-Steph du Toit, who chased it down and scored.

“What I can guarantee is that we work very hard,” George said. “We are a very smart rugby team, we work hard behind the scenes to figure out what we are doing.

“Each team in this series has made different threats. I think the way South Africa attacked our collapse was ruthless at times and we didn’t adapt well enough. I don’t make any excuses for that, we want to win these games.” We want to make sure we win games for all the fans who come to the Allianz Stadium and for all the fans at home.

“We know it’s not good enough. But I hope they can see that there is a lot of effort and fight in this team. I hope they can see that if they stay with us, there are a lot of great players here who can do something doing.” very good things.”

While doom and gloom will be the main summary of this autumn campaign for England, there have been plenty of positives in their own right.

Sleightholme will rival Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wings, with Marcus Smith stepping in as Owen Farrell’s successor.

The Springboks’ 22 had much of England’s possession in the second half and if they can convert such dominance into tries, they will find answers sooner or later.

George is also confident that his team is on the right track, even after such poor results.

“I couldn’t be more confident. The character of the people, not just the players but also the staff. I think we have the right people and the right characters.”

“I’m very optimistic about the future of this team. You look at the likes of Freddie Steward and Sam Underhill, who came into the team today because they didn’t play too much international rugby and put in such performances. I think that’s the sign from a good team.”