Farrell: England still have belief despite South Africa defeat

England captain Owen Farrell says the players still believe in themselves despite a run of poor results ahead of the second Test against South Africa.

Eddie Jones’ men looked set to end their winless run as they took a 24-3 lead in Johannesburg on Saturday, but the Springboks fought back for a 42-39 victory, marking England’s fourth Test loss in a row.

Farrell has been open about the team’s approach to the match and says everyone is on the same page regarding how to move forward after the last result. 

“A lot of honest conversations have gone on in a really productive way. Everybody is pulling in the same direction,” he said. 

“We’ve shown that with the way we’ve reacted this week. We had a good chat about the discipline side of things. I just think we got stuck in a bit of a rut on the weekend.”

Head coach Jones is aware that the pressure is high, but insists it is not any different to that felt by the team in the past.

“There is always doubt and always pressure. They are all big games – every Test match is a big game,” he commented. 

“We get enormous media scrutiny, and we have to always handle that. Pressure is part of high-performance sport. The key for us is to be as calm as we possibly can be this weekend.”

The second Test takes place on Saturday in Bloemfontein.

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