Sunday 10 June 2018 11:08, UK
Eddie Jones said England's poor discipline was at the heart of their 42-39 defeat to South Africa and admitted it is up to him to fix it.
The Springboks came from 21 points behind to secure a nail-biting triumph over England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg as Jones' side fell to a fifth straight defeat.
England were rampant in the opening quarter, with wing Mike Brown, full-back Elliot Daly and centre and captain Owen Farrell all scoring tries in the first 16 minutes, tearing South Africa apart out wide. Farrell converted them all and kicked a penalty to make it 24-3.
However, England-based scrum-half Faf de Klerk, who plays for Sale Sharks, began the Boks' comeback with their first try. S'Busiso Nkosi scored in each corner, and full-back Willie Le Roux, another overseas-based player, got the fourth for South Africa, who went into half-time 29-27 ahead.
Aphiwe Dyantyi, another South Africa wing on debut, pushed the home team 39-27 ahead, making England pay immediately for a yellow card to prop Mako Vunipola in his 50th Test.
Tries from Maro Itoje and Jonny May in the last 10 minutes set up a thrilling finish and England set up for one last attack from a lineout, but South Africa stole the throw-in and scrambled the ball out of play to clinch victory.
"It was a game that we could have won - I have never seen a better 20 minutes by a visiting side at Ellis Park," Jones told Sky Sports.
"Our next 60 was a mixture of inconsistency and lack of discipline. We had a penalty count of 17-4 against us. I am proud of the effort of the boys, but we have got to fix that discipline.
"It is my problem - I select the players and I have to change the behaviours of them. Sometimes that is not easy."
Jones also explained why he pulled lock Nick Isiekwe after 35 minutes and replaced him with Brad Shields.
"We needed to change the momentum of the game, it was slipping away from us," he added. "The only way you can do that is changing personnel and we felt bringing Brad Shields on and having another back-rower out there would help us defensively.
"We conceded some easy tries today and struggled to get our spacing right - it is something we are working on. At times the South Africans attacked well and we will keep on working on that. I think the effort and attitude was outstanding - I think we played with courage, albeit a lack of discipline."
Jones also revealed that he had an altercation with some South African fans in the tunnel after the final whistle at Ellis Park .
When asked about the incident, the Australian said: "They always have plenty to say here, especially when they win."
Jones was then asked if he responded, and replied: "Of course I did." However, the 58-year-old refused to elaborate further on the exchange, adding: "It's not for me to share with you. I'm sure you'll get it on some mobile phone in the world."
Will England bounce back in the second Test? Tune into Sky Sports Action and Main Event from 3pm on Saturday June 16 to follow the Rose on England's journey to the 2019 Rugby World Cup
