Steve Borthwick has described England's 45-21 loss to the Springboks in Johannesburg as a "painful" but "important development step" after his side extended their losing run to five matches.
England showed enough fight to cut the deficit to 17-14 before half-time and were still only 10 points adrift with 12 minutes left, but yellow cards to Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper left them playing with 13 men and South Africa punished them with two late tries to extend the margin.
The indiscipline is becoming a pattern. England have now collected eight yellow cards across their last five matches and conceded 56 penalties — more than 11 per game — with a 13-6 penalty count against them at Ellis Park.
Borthwick acknowledged the circumstances behind each card without absolving his players. On Freeman's tackle: "I don't think you'd regard Tommy Freeman as trying to do anything malicious or reckless there; he is just trying to make a tackle." On Pepper, he pointed to South Africa's deliberate pressure tactics: "They are very good. You want execution to be at an incredibly high level; you want decision making to be at a high level. Some young players will learn from this experience of playing against the best in the world."
Beyond the cards, Borthwick singled out the aerial contest as a critical area where the Springboks dominated. "A huge number of them were won back to create opportunity for them. That was clear, and you have got to credit South Africa with that. They do that very well, and they force pressure on the opposition once they get into the 22."
George Furbank, named to start at full-back, fell ill on Friday and required emergency surgery, ruling him out for the remainder of England's July campaign against Fiji and Argentina.
England's next Nations Championship match is in Liverpool next Saturday against Fiji, who lost 39-24 to Wales in round one.