Ratings: England fall short

England arrived in Durban up for a tough match against South Africa and didn't back down from the physical challenge.


Having settled under coach Stuart Lancaster following a successful Six Nations with a young team that can take on anyone.


England came out firing and did a great job at the breakdown initially, but were unable to keep the South African's out in the second half when the backs started to find space to play with.


A try from ben Foden at the death will have given them some hope to bounce back next week.


Timmy Hancox rates the English players:


15 Mike Brown:

Did a good job fielding high balls at the back throughout the match and showed glimpses of what he can do on the counter-attack.

7/10


14 Chris Ashton:

Had one or two dangerous breaks, but was tackled from behind by Francois Hougaard and then Jean de Villiers, so his reputation for speed took a bit of a knock.

5/10


13 Manu Tuilagi:

Struggled to break the advantage line, but he still managed a few powerful runs and put in some strong tackles.

6/10


12 Brad Barritt:

The defensive pillar of the side, although he didn't offer much on attack. His tough tackling was badly missed after leaving the field injured.

7/10


11 Ben Foden:

Didn't see a lot of the action, but he did a great job to score the try at the end of the match to give his side some hope for the series.

7/10


10 Owen Farrell:

The young flyhalf looked up for a fight in the physical stuff and kicked for goal well, but didn't offer very much on attack and was pretty one dimensional with ball in hand.

5/10


9 Ben Youngs:

There was nothing wrong with his passing game, but he didn't find any hole to break on his usual sniping runs, while his kicking out of hand was poorly executed.

5/10


8 Ben Morgan:

Gave away several short-arm penalties at the scrum for triggering the engagement too early. He was also caught in possession at the back of a scrum and looked slow and ponderous at times.

4/10


7 Chris Robshaw (captain):

The skipper is a determined fellow and ran about the park making tackles and looking to turn the ball over wherever he could. Not a the best ball carrier, but he threw his body around for the sake of the team.

7/10


6 Tom Johnson:

He has a very busy debut and was effective on the ground winning turnovers in the first half, but faded a little later on. Not the best ball carrier either, but worked hard to make his presence felt.

7/10


5 Geoff Parling:

Did some great work in the line-outs, but didn't do a lot else to write home about.

6/10


4 Mouritz Botha:

SOme very good work counter-rucking and the South African-born player looked right at home in the physical stuff.

6/10


3 Dan Cole:

Made some good tackles in open play for a prop, but was under pressure at scrum time.

5/10


2 Dylan Hartley:

HIs line-out throwing was great, but his general play wasn't up to scratch and he looked more interested in niggling off the ball than playing rugby.

4/10


1 Joe Marler:

Very good in broken play, winning creating turnovers and hitting the rucks, but yet to prove himself in the scrums.

6/10


Replacements:


16 Lee Mears: (On for Dylan Hartley - 72nd minute)

Not long enough to be accurately rated


17 Paul Doran-Jones: (On for Joe Marler - 72nd minute)

Not long enough to be accurately rated


18 Tom Palmer: (On for Mouritz Botha - 58th minute)

Needed more time on the field to make a bigger impact, but he did add some value to the English engine room.

6/10


19 Phil Dowson: (On for Ben Morgan - 62nd minute)

Not long enough to be accurately rated


20 Lee Dickson: (On for ben Youngs - 72nd minute)

Not long enough to be accurately rated


21 Toby Flood: (On for Brad Barritt - 53rd minute)

Miss a few tackles, but has sturding in the midfield.

5/10


22 Jonathan Joseph: (On for Mike Brown - 78th minute)

Not long enough to be accurately rated