• Jamie George admits effects of high altitude ‘did kick in’
South Africa believe England were the architects of their own spectacular demise in the first Test on Saturday because Eddie Jones’s squad failed to acclimatise properly. Instead of preparing at altitude before the Johannesburg contest Jones had chosen to base his players at sea level and saw his initially dominant team collapse to a 42-39 defeat.
Despite the second Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday also taking place on the Highveld, England will again train this week beside the Indian Ocean in Durban and the Springbok scrum-half Faf de Klerk, the man of the match, says he and his team-mates always felt England would struggle at Ellis Park.
Written by Robert Kitson in Johannesburg
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jun/10/england-south-africa-faf-de-klerk-eddie-jones under the title “Faf de Klerk: ‘Altitude was a factor in England’s loss to South Africa’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
