Electric winger Jonny May claimed England will learn from their mistakes in their quest to be world number one.
Having lost 2-1 in the series against South Africa, England face them again in the Autumn Internationals, along with World Cup holders New Zealand.
With some pride restored following five Test defeats in a row, May believes England are in better shape after the difficult period.
“The tough times make you better and the comeback is always better than the setback,” said the 28-year-old.
“We just have to do it now, but I am confident we will be a better team come the autumn.
“We didn’t feel like South Africa were better than us, they are a good team, but we never felt like winning wasn’t something we could do.
“It was gutting how the first two games went but we are in a good place now having won the last game.”
With a try in each of his last five Tests, including two to end the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations, May has established himself as one of the deadliest wingers at Test level in recent months.
His touchdown in the final Test against the Springboks effectively hauled England over the line, when he displayed his breath-taking pace to reach Danny Cipriani’s cross-kick with only centimetres to spare in the corner.
May now has 17 tries in 37 Tests, but revealed the significance of that score in Cape Town.
“Scoring that try at the end was a special memory for me,” said the winger.
“I feel like that won us the game. That was the moment we knew we’d won. There were a lot of reasons that was good in terms of how special that was for the team and how much we needed it.”
Eddie Jones led England to a record-equalling 18 consecutive victories including two NatWest 6 Nations titles however they lost three in a row to end this year’s Championship.
Despite that, May explained that Jones has helped the team grow in adversity as they look to bounce back in the 2019 Championship.
May added: “Eddie has been very consistent, he’s almost harder on us when we’re winning.
“He hates us becoming complacent but he stuck to his guns in terms of our plan and what we were doing, and kept very composed and had faith in us to put it right eventually. He took a lot of the pressure away from us.
“At some point we had to win, and when it’s a wet, gritty game and you all have to get stuck in together, those are the games you remember more. Winning the last game of the season is always a great feeling.
“I’m just pleased for everybody; we are a tight group, we’ve worked hard and had a good balance off the pitch.”
