Eddie Jones admits England let themselves down during Six Nations defeat to Wales
Last Updated: 24/02/19 1:31pm
England coach Eddie Jones said he was frustrated his side had let themselves down during their 21-13 Six Nations defeat to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
England were leading 13-9 with 12 minutes left before tries by Cory Hill and Josh Adams gave Wales a victory that kept them on course for the Grand Slam.
Jones said: "It was a nip and tuck sort of a game, fine margins, you make one mistake it cost us a try that ultimately cost us the game.
"We started the second half brilliantly but lost a bit of momentum and gave away some penalties, which allowed them back in the game. They beat us in the air, the penalty count was lopsided and when you are getting beaten in those two areas when it's a tight game, you are going to struggle.
"Full credit to Wales, they played very well, deserved to win today, played smartly, and we just let ourselves down in the areas I spoke about."
Jones accepted that the extraordinary pressure-cooker atmosphere in the last quarter of the game helped the hosts as they clinched a record 12th consecutive Test win.
"It always plays a part," he said. "I think when you are under pressure all the time, players tend to do things they might not do normally and we could have been better in that area.
"You've got to be good enough to cope with it and today we weren't quite good enough and there's no embarrassment to that. We'll get better and we'll learn from that and we'll be right."
England are still in contention to win the title although they will require help from Scotland or Ireland to overhaul new leaders Wales.
Jones said: "We'll lick our wounds and get ready for Italy. Beat Italy, we are in the last round and we'll see where the land lies. Wales are a tough side, they have a good chance of winning the Six Nations but we'll be chasing them, they have a couple of hard games coming up."
