Ben Te’o has played just 28 minutes for Worcester this season and described his performance as "rusty".

"It can be tough not playing any rugby then coming in and playing a Test match," he said. "You’ve got to dig deep, it’s not all going to be perfect but you can still have a role in the team.

"I’ll recover well because the plan probably wasn’t to play that long. I had to play 70 minutes and dig deep. I’ve just got to keep going."

Together with landing the match-winning penalty and stripping possession from Lodewyk De Jager in the final few minutes, Farrell came on pretty strong in the clutch moments

BBC Radio 5 live

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, England winger Chris Ashton said: "It has been four long years for me, a lot has happened in between but I'm so happy and proud to wear the shirt again. Faz (Owen Farrell) never uses his shoulder so I didn't think it would come to anything and I was just delighted we got the ball off the pitch.

"It was a very attritional game and we knew we had to stay in it. South Africa are always physical and they look to get over you and we knew we had to contain them. I would have loved a try at the end though."

...and this one admittedly does not look good from Owen Farrell.

Man of the match Mark Wilson:

"We’re delighted with the resilience we had at the end and the guys who came off the bench had a great impact.

"We’re all disappointed with what happened in the summer, but we’re looking forward and to get our autumn series off with a win is a boost in morale."

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, Reuters

You could tell by Eddie Jones' celebration he was itching to get on the field and pat every player on the back because he knows it has been a tough few months with everyone doubting England. He needed his players to step up today.

When you know the opposition have taken you to the cleaners for 40 minutes, it takes a special group of players to respond and be relatively dominant in the second half.

It was an absolute whopper of a shoulder from Owen Farrell on Andre Esterhuizen in the 84th minute to finally bring the match to a close.

You can feel the shudder even from the stills.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Owen Farrell admitted it was a nervy end to the game, watching his tackle in slow-motion on the big screen.

"It’s hard to keep your arms round when someone’s running that hard but thankfully there was a bit of common sense," he said.

"The best thing about that performance was the way we stuck at it, we stayed in the fight and it paid dividends in the second half.

"They were definitely on top, they had a lot of ball and looked dangerous but we managed to stay in it. The main thing was that it was mentally tough and that counts a lot for us."

The tackle debate continues...

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi speaking to Sky Sports: "We made it tough for ourselves. We had so many chances that we could have taken. We know we are our own enemies. When we got to the place to take the points and didn't.

"We are still building, But it is really tough to lose like this in this jersey."

Image source, Reuters

England co-captain Dylan Hartley: "They put us under a lot of pressure at the end but we didn't give away any penalties there and that discipline was outstanding.

"It was important to start the campaign with a victory. The atmosphere here in front of a full house was brilliant.

"The decision at the end was never in doubt. It was a good, hard tackle.

"It was an arm-wrestle of a game, we were on our tryline a lot in the first half but the way we dug ourselves out of it was really good and the composure to take some points when we finally got into their half was good.

"It wasn't a pretty game but to win makes it a pretty result."

Vince Kenny: This should be fun. Farrell was a microsecond late but was definitely tackling. Won't stop the haters though. I might settle down with a bottle of red and read these angry comments for a couple of hours.

Alex Haworth: Farrell's got really lucky at the end there. Not sure about that decision from the referee.

Tom: Never in doubt Farrell. Clearly tried to wrap the arms. Game of two halves defined.

Image source, AFP

England head coach Eddie Jones:

"We got through 80 minutes, there was sharp resistance and toughness in our play so I’m really pleased with out boys. We got a bit excited too early at the end though, I’ll learn from that. I forgot about the TMO.

"We just stuck at it, we stayed in the arm wrestle. We did the simple things well, we had to keep them on the back foot and we did that.

"The game just broke up, we weren’t quite good enough to take advantage of a couple of opportunities but we were good enough to get the points."

Some objective, clear-eyed professional opinions on that final Owen Farrell tackle.

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

If it was role reversal here and a South African had smashed one of the England players we would be asking for a penalty, but we will take it.

England were under fire in the first half, so to come back in the way they did to win it was brilliant.

Brian Moore
Former England hooker

South Africa didn’t make the most of their chances in the first half but the defensive effort was astonishing throughout for England. They must take immense credit just as much as South Africa must take criticism.

Andrew Cotter
Commentator on BBC TV

That was a victory they established so well in the first half with their defence and built so well in the second half with a good attack.

To my eye, it looked like a chin-high shoulder from Owen Farrell with not enough attempt to wrap the arms.

But Angus Gardner decides otherwise.

"In my view there was enough of a wrap.." he starts telling Owen Farrell.

That is all he needs to say. Farrell is off and fist-pumping in delight.

Andrew Cotter
Commentator on BBC TV

Boos from Twickenham, they thought they had the victory. What a decision. All eyes turn to the big screen.