Fin Smith offers scathing verdict on England loss to Boks

Fin Smith admitted England were “soft” in defence against South Africa as he offered an honest appraisal of the 45-21 mauling at Ellis Park on Saturday that registered a fifth straight Test defeat.

Smith refuses to take any reassurance from the second-quarter rally that saw the Springboks’ blistering 17-0 early lead pegged back to just three points at half-time following tries by Ellis Genge and George Martin.

England finished with 13 men after Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were shown yellow cards for illegal tackles, resulting in an inevitable late collapse, but it was the start that really concerned their 24-year-old fly-half.

“We still have to question why we started as poorly as we did,” Smith said. “For about 50 minutes of that game you saw how we wanted to play but then, ultimately, they were too good for us in the end.

“I’m actually more frustrated about how we started rather than how it went at the end. At the end, down to 13, we were still fighting against a top side like that.

Nations Championship

Northern Hemisphere

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Wales

1

1

0

0

5

2

Scotland

1

1

0

0

5

3

Ireland

1

1

0

0

5

4

France

1

0

1

0

2

5

Italy

1

0

1

0

0

6

England

1

0

1

0

0

Southern Hemisphere

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

South Africa

1

1

0

0

5

2

New Zealand

1

1

0

0

5

3

Japan

1

1

0

0

4

4

Australia

1

0

1

0

2

5

Argentina

1

0

1

0

1

6

Fiji

1

0

1

0

0

“It is understandable, 15 against 13, they might get a few but for us to start as poorly as we did was more frustrating.

“We were soft defensively, missed a lot of tackles and ultimately they scored quickly when they got into our 22.

“Deep down I’m probably pretty proud of our efforts, we stuck in it, but we gave ourselves too much to do.”

Smith is unable to explain how England’s 12-Test winning run lasting until the Six Nations opener against Wales has descended into their current losing sequence.

Their July tour continues with Saturday’s match against dangerous Fiji and a trip to Santiago del Estero to take on unpredictable Argentina.

“It’s very frustrating,” Smith said. “After our win streak people were talking about us being the team to beat and now we have lost five on the trot. We are digging deep to find out why that is the case but right now I couldn’t tell you.

“You can go big picture in sport and talk about breaking streaks, but you lose yourself a little bit and don’t focus on what are the most important things that are going to matter.”

England’s inquest into their Nations Championship opener has already begun with two recurring themes at the centre of the discussions over what went wrong.

“There will be some tough conversations over the next couple of days and then we will just turn our focus onto what is coming up next,” Smith said.

“We’ll try to get to the bottom of it. I feel like I could summarise pretty quickly already what it is going to be about – it is going to be around discipline and the aerial game which they got the better of us in.

“It’s not a quick fix, it’s a slow burner and you have got to stick at it and learn as a team and play as a team. You get there in the end.”