Defence the key in England victory

Jonny Wilkinson stops Trevor Halstead in his tracks

Jonny Wilkinson has attributed England's victory over the Springboks to an "outstanding" defence.

The stand-off was the key performer in England's 29-9 win, kicking seven out of his nine efforts at goal as the hosts beat South Africa by a record margin.

Dan Luger's last minute try capped a dominant England performance at Twickenham in a bruising encounter.

"It was a tough game with a lot of big hits," reflected Wilkinson after the final whistle.

We were proud of the way we defended

Jonny Wilkinson

Despite the win, England's number 10 was visibly annoyed at missing with the final kick of the game - his conversion attempt bouncing off the upright.

"I'm disappointed not to finish it with the kick, but now we can relax," he said.

"We never really quite got going, but we were proud of the way we defended and a lot of the guys were outstanding out there."

Martin Johnson, returning to the team after looking on from the sidelines for three games, echoed Wilkinson's sentiments.

"Our defence was pretty good but it was probably closer than 20 points," the captain conceded.

"They competed a lot at the lineout and it was either a turnover or a penalty which did disrupt the game, but we kept plugging away," Johnson reflected on the first half.

England earned reward for their application in the second half as they stretched their lead before Luger crossed at the close.

England coach Clive Woodward was delighted with the result which proved that defeat to Ireland in the Six Nations last month was truly just a blip.

Jonny was awesome - to kick that well was a credit to him and the people he works with

Clive Woodward
England coach

The biggest thing was to bounce back from Ireland, and everyone has done that after what was a shattering setback," said Woodward.

"To come back from that and beat Australia and South Africa on merit is a testament to everyone involved."

"No one lost their bottle after Dublin, and the crowd really got behind us.

"Twickenham is a wonderful place to be on days like this, and the bigger the game the better it is.

"It was a heavyweight boxing match out there, and I am delighted with this."

Naturally, Woodward also paid tribute to Wilkinson, who has now scored 68 points in the last three Tests as well as produce a towering defensive display.

"Jonny was awesome. To kick that well was a credit to him and the people he works with," he said.

"He is also one of the most destructive tacklers in either code of rugby, and we are extremely lucky to have him - he had a wonderful day."