Upbeat Lancaster calls for composure

England coach Stuart Lancaster was encouraged by his team's fighting performance against the Springboks and said that their composure ultimately let them down at Kings Park.

The England boss was disappointed with the way his side allowed themselves to be put under pressure by the hosts just after half-time, but maintained that there were plenty of positive signs looking ahead to the final two matches in the series.

He said: "I was really pleased with the first-half performance, there are a lot of positives to take from it, and obviously a critical area for us to work on is that third quarter when the Springboks controlled the game well and scored their two tries.

"I was delighted with the comeback in the end and the character we showed to keep playing, also for the young players out there and with a few new caps there were some fantastic performances all round," added the England coach.

Lancaster said that the way his team had taken the game to the Springboks in the first half was encouraging as it gives them a base from which to work from in the rest of their tour.

"There are definitely some areas that we need to work on but there are lots of positives.

"I thought in the first half we moved the ball well and challenged the Springboks defensively and we kept the ball alive. There were definitely periods of time when they were finding it hard to reorganise defensively," he said.

Lancaster explained that the ultimate difference between the sides was their respective levels of composure, as some poor decisions deepp in their own territory had cost his team after half-time.

"I think composure is the key word, we need to make sure that we carry the ball in the right place at the right time but equally when we have got opportunities to get the ball off the field we have to do so.

"There are one or two areas to fix up on but we will keep positive in the way we approach that," he said.

By Michael de Vries, in Durban