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Rugby Union

Ashton slams England stamina

03/06/2007

England coach Brian Ashton criticised his players for not lasting the distance against South Africa after they let a half-time lead slip to a 55-22 defeat.

Ashton was furious with his team as the Springboks ran away with the game in the second half in Pretoria.

Though the scores were close for a while thanks to the boot of Jonny Wilkinson, the Boks ran in eight tries - mostly in the latter part of the game.

Ashton said: "I expect international players to put their bodies on the line for the whole 80 minutes. You can't play for 50 minutes and expect to win against South Africa.

"We showed we could play for 50 minutes but not 80. The energy levels dropped dramatically in the last 15 minutes and people fell off tackles that they made in the first half."

The England coach was without an estimated 30 players due to club commitments and a virus that a number of players caught while on tour.

This forced him to field a largely inexperienced side and the 60-year-old felt that some of the players had done enough to show they had a future at international level.

He said: "One or two players showed they're capable of competing at this level but overall I am disappointed, to be honest."

England's director of rugby, Rob Andrew, said the team should not have had to tour this summer with the World Cup in September. The former Newcastle Flacons coach said it was too much to ask of both players and staff.

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