Change of pace leaves England at a loss and clubs playing catch-up | Paul Rees

South Africa defeat exposes what Eddie Jones already knows: that rugby is faster and more fluid at international level

When the Premiership clubs raise the issue of Eddie Jones’s national squad training sessions this summer, bristling at a high attrition rate, Twickenham should show a video of England’s latest defeat against a nascent South Africa side who were able to recover from an appalling start because of an ability, honed in Super Rugby, to play at sustained pace.

It was a Premiership player, the Sale scrum-half Faf de Klerk, who was his side’s catalyst, but the difference was at forward, where the Springboks retained their shape in the loose when a crazy game was at its most frenetic. England took an early 24-3 lead through the passing ability of George Ford that exploited a narrow, naive defence, but once the home side got hold of the ball, the failings that addled this year’s Six Nations campaign surfaced.

Related: S’Busiso Nkosi powers South Africa to stunning comeback win over England