Wilkinson proud of beaten England

PRETORIA, June 2 (Reuters) England captain Jonny Wilkinson said he was proud of his injury and illness-ravaged team despite a second heavy beating by South Africa in Pretoria today.

England lost 55-22 in the second test having lost the first in Bloemfontein 58-10.

''Up to halftime we were in good shape,'' said Wilkinson after England changed ends 19-17 ahead.

''We managed to get onto the field a lot of the ethos we had in training and keep the game fairly tight and even got the ball into the right areas of the field to play against South Africa.

''Dan Scarbrough's interception try just before halftime was perfect for us but South Africa are very, very good at capitalising on errors. If you make a mistake they are away and the difference in both games has been those mistakes.'' Springbok coach Jake White said he had spoken ''sternly'' to his players at halftime. ''This is a talented bunch of players and I told them it was up to them and they just turned it around.

''We won the second half 38-3 and at least we finished the game with a lot of momentum. Psychologically, we have now won a series against England, scored 100 points and 14 tries and now it's about keeping the momentum going to the World Cup.'' The teams next meet in a vital pool match in the World Cup in Paris in September.

England coach Brian Ashton said: ''It was 22-22 after 50 minutes and some of the gang tackling we put on the big South African players was outstanding. But when they cranked it up in the last 20 minutes the energy levels weren't there and we fell off some tackles.'' Wilkinson added: ''This team has stood up for themselves and it has been an honour to captain them.

''I honestly couldn't speak more positively about the feeling we have had here in the squad from day to day.'' South Africa now play a one-off test against Samoa in Johannesburg next Saturday.

REUTERS HK KN2216