George Ford has admitted England “weren’t good enough” as they were defeated by South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final.
England lost 32-12 as late tries from wings Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe widened the margin of victory.
South Africa were comfortably the better side in Yokohama, and Ford lamented England’s first half errors.
“We weren’t good enough,” Ford admitted to BBC Radio Five Live.
“Congratulations to South Africa, I thought they executed their plan brilliantly.
“We were far too inaccurate in the first half. We always knew they based their game on what they do up front.”
It is the second time that England have lost to South Africa in a Rugby World Cup final, following the defeat in Paris in 2007.
Having beaten defending champions New Zealand in the semi-final, England were favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, but fell short as South Africa’s forward might took them to victory.
Ford nonetheless praised the efforts of his teammates in defeat and throughout the tournament.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the lads, they’ve been brilliant all tournament up front, they just did a job on us today.
“They played really well you can’t take anything away from them. It’s obviously a huge disappointment for our side. We wanted to finish it off today but we were nowhere near good enough to do that.
“We’ve come a long way and it’s probably the most together squad I’ve ever been a part of. We’ll come back.”
