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Cape Town - Springbok head coach Allister Coetzee was left frustrated by his team's inability to handle England's kicking game in their loss at Twickenham.
South Africa started brighter than their hosts before fading away, down 30-9 at the start of the second half having conceded three tries.
Coetzee added that he was pleased to see the side keep fighting, epitomised by Willie le Roux's late consolation try, despite his team slipping to their fourth defeat in five matches.
"It was difficult. Not easy at all. It is tough times but when I look at the team, they do not give up and they keep fighting. I draw comfort from that," Coetzee said.
"We become our worst enemy when we make individual mistakes and don't handle the aerial contestables well. They are things that we can fix, things that we need to fix quickly too, especially defensive. The two blunders we made cost us two tries.
"It's tough but you have to hang in there, you have got to keep working and focus on the positive things.
"As a collective we are not happy with it. If we can improve by giving different players and opportunity we will also look at that. Players have to learn how important individual errors are at this stage and take responsibility. We have no excuses.
"We need to give England credit for playing the conditions well. [George] Ford was superb and the half-back pair were superb, in terms of the kicking gameplan. It was matter of being patient, and they waited to pounce on our mistakes."
Springbok captain Adriaan Strauss was asked to compare England, the number two side in the world, to the number one side in New Zealand.
"They are both quality teams. England do not play high-risk rugby, but they execute well. They are clinical and effective in what they do," Strauss replied.
"They play a pressure-type game with those contestable kicks, putting your rucks under pressure and working hard. They are very good.
"Both teams have different styles of playing but they are the best two in the world at the moment."
