Jones: We are all hurting, this defeat was like a horror movie

Pressure rises on England coach after latest setback Youngs says sorry for angry reaction to TV interview

Eddie Jones insists England must stick together despite describing last night’s 23-12 defeat in the second Test against South Africa that ended their hopes of salvaging the series as a “horror movie”.

The fifth Test defeat in a row for Jones’s side was mired in controversy as Ben Youngs apologised for storming out of a post-match television interview, while Joe Marler and Mike Brown were involved in an angry exchange of words with South African supporters.

England’s plight ahead of the third Test worsened with news that props Mako Vunipola and Ellis Genge are returning to England. Vunipola, who has started both Tests so far, is a prearranged move to attend the birth of his child, while Genge incurred a knee injury in training during the week. Exeter Chiefs’ Alec Hepburn will join the squad.

Jones admitted that the pressure was mounting on his side after equalling the losing streak of 2014 under Stuart Lancaster as they once again let a firsthalf two-try lead slip following the 42-39 defeat in Johannesburg.

“It was a bit like a horror movie, wasn’t it?” said Jones. “Almost a rerun of last week. We made errors in different areas of the game. We’re trying to work out a solution of why we did that. It’s a tough period at the minute. No one likes to lose five games in a row. We have been through an exceptional period and now we’re going through this tough period. Players and coaches are putting in plenty of effort but for some reason we are just not handling key moments of the game well.

“We are a bit like a broken car at the moment – we fix one thing and then something else breaks. Sometimes you go through these periods – this is a tough time for the team, we are all hurting, players, coaches. I’m hurting. We have to keep at it and find a solution and we will.

“An England side is always under pressure whether you’re winning or losing. You’re always under pressure.

“It’s just about sticking together, understanding what you can improve and the emotions of the situation and if we do that, we will get out of it.”

Youngs, meanwhile, apologised for his post-match reaction when he ended an interview with Sky Sports, the rights holders, after just 10 seconds.

Sir Clive Woodward was highly critical of Youngs’s response and the England scrum-half later took to social media to apologise.

“Just wanted to say sorry I walked off during my interview with Sky Sports,” Youngs wrote. “Obviously was very emotional and disappointed with result. Good to chat to Gail [Davis, the Sky Sports reporter] second time round just now. We go again in Cape Town. Thank you everyone.”

Youngs’s team-mate Jonny May insisted the side’s confidence would not be unduly affected for the third Test. “[We have] good players, irrelevant of win or lose, good game or bad game, just have to keep trying to get better; that’s what I try to do,” he said.

“I will work hard next week to try to raise the bar again. The process should be the same whether we win or lose.

“To be fair, our defence was better [than last week], connection was better, line speed was better and our discipline was a bit better. But we forced it a bit in attack this time; forced the offloads and lost the ball.”

Jones, however, added that he was at a loss to explain the side’s recently acquired inability to defend a lead. “I wish I knew. I’ve brought teams here for a long time and to beat South African teams in South Africa you have to play well and you have to be consistent because there is an ebb and flow in the games here,” he said.

“If you don’t control that ebb and flow, which we haven’t done, and you get caught up in the scoreboard, everyone gets excited and the game gets away from you. This is a great learning experience for the team. Painful. Extremely painful.

“It’s just about sticking together, understanding what you can improve and the emotions of the situation and if we do that we will get out of it. Unfortunately it has gone a bit longer but we’ll get out of it.”

Billy Vunipola is a doubt for next Saturday’s third Test in Cape Town after picking up an arm injury amid concerns that he may have aggravated the problem which sidelined him for long periods of the last year.