Farrell & Borthwick react to semi-final exit
England's captain and head coach react to the 15-16 loss to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris.
Owen Farrell: "After a difficult loss like this all that stands with me is how proud I am to be English.
"I've seen Handre Pollard do that a few times, he is a top class kicker and that is a clutch kick if ever I've seen one so fair play to him. You can always look back at things but South Africa are a top, top side. They have shown that over the course of the World Cup.
"We can pick at anything, but my overriding feeling right now is not about the game it's about how proud I am of our group and what they've done over the last five months. It's not all gone our way and the fight we showed today and sheer will was outstanding. I hope we made everyone back home proud. This is a last World Cup for some people, but this England team has a bright future.
"We've been through it all from the Autumn games, cards throw at us left, right and centre - it's been a real rollercoaster, but to show the pride and passion we did today and the fight for each other out there I'm unbelievably proud of them and I hope the country is too."
![PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 21: Steve Borthwick, Head Coach of England, consoles Jamie George of England at full-time after their team's defeat in the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between England and South Africa at Stade de France on October 21, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)](https://rfu.widen.net/content/dd973e55-9406-4307-9796-d08e8cdea809/web/england_rugby_consolation.png)
Steve Borthwick: "Immense credit to South Africa and the way they played, to come back at the end and get the result. They are current World Champions and current number one team in the world for a reason.
"I thought our players were magnificent tonight. Yes there are things we could have done better, and we are disappointed because we thought we were going to win the game tonight. The players should be proud of their performance and I think the supporters in the ground tonight and watching from home should be too.
"I thought we done so much very well. We will reflect, recover, and play Argentina on Friday night. This is a very good group of players, if you look at this squad we have seven players who are 25 or under, that's the most of any teams in the semi-finals, so we have a group of players who are going to be in this England shirt for a long time."