England captain Owen Farrell told his teammates he was ‘proud’ of their Rugby World Cup exploits, but admitted they ‘struggled to get a foothold in the game’ as they were beaten in the final by South Africa.
The Springboks produced a brilliant display to upset England in the showpiece final in Yokohama and lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time.
The South African pack dominated, winning penalty after penalty at the scrum to build a commanding lead through the boot of Handre Pollard, before late tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe sealed a 32-12 win.
Save for one spell shortly before half-time, England rarely threatened the South African try line, and Farrell conceded the better side had won.
"We knew South Africa would come out motivated. We thought we were, too, obviously,” Farrell said. “In terms of the start of the game they had a lot of ball in a lot of the right areas and seemed to get a good few calls.
“And that put us under pressure and we didn’t seem to be able to get a foothold in the game and they had a lot of momentum first half. Second half was a bit different but they played brilliantly, so credit to them."
Just a week ago, England produced one of the greatest performances in their history to topple New Zealand and reach Sunday’s final.
And asked what he had said to his troops after failing to finish the job in Yokohama, Farrell said: "Proud to be a part of it. Proud to have come as far as we’ve come. Obviously today didn’t go our way, but we’ve enjoyed this tournament.
“A lot of people have put a lot of work into us and we’ve really enjoyed it, he added. “Today has not gone our way but it won’t take away from that."
"Straight after a match it’s tough but I don’t think it will take away from how much the squad has enjoyed our time in Japan. It’s been fantastically run and we’ve loved our time here."
