England rugby star Jamie George confronted the referee during Saturday’s clash with South Africa at Twickenham.

The Red Roses’ slump continued as they fell to their fifth defeat in a row – their worst run for six years.

England hadn’t lost three games in a row at home since 2006, but recent defeats against New Zealand, Australia and now South Africa have bucked that unwanted record.

Steve Borthwick’s side once again flattered to deceive in west London, despite racing to an early lead when Ollie Sleightholme scored a try after just four minutes.

South Africa hit back with three consecutive tries in a frantic 10-minute period, but Sam Underhill did claw back some hope for the hosts when he scored a try to reduce the deficit just before the break.

Despite their first-half woes, England did come out fighting after the break, with it looking as if they’d regained the lead when Henry Slade touched down on the left-hand side.

Celebrations were cut short though after referee Andrew Brace signalled for the try to be ruled out after a Maro Itoje neck roll on Malcolm Marx was deemed justification to chalk it off.

England captain George didn’t look best pleased with the call though, with the 34-year-old seen confronting the referee after the decision was confirmed.

George’s frustrations appeared to focus on a high tackle on Slade from Damien De Allende – something that went unnoticed and unpunished by the referee.

Slade was subsequently subbed off for a HIA, with South Africa going on to add a fourth try later in the game to confirm the win.

While there were some signs of promise for England, their mistakes, particularly in defence proved fatal once again.

It’s something full-back Freddie Steward touched on during his post-match debrief, telling BBC Radio: “Frustration. We had a lot of opportunities to get points on the board and come back into that game.

“We were close again but we didn’t get over the line and we have to get the results. You cannot fault the effort but we didn’t have enough today and credit to South Africa, they shut the game out well.

“Our discipline cost us. We talked about keeping our penalty count down in the week. We gave too many away and it cost us.”

He continued: “South Africa bring physicality everywhere on the pitch and particularly at the breakdown. We were a bit lethargic there at times and it cost us.

“We showed to ourselves and hopefully the fans that we are not far away, it was a solid performance but we just didn’t have enough to get back in the game. Their tries came from our errors but we will regroup and come back stronger.”

England will have the opportunity to end their Autumn Nations campaign on a much-needed high when they face Japan next weekend.