Anthony Watson urges British and Irish Lions to learn lessons from England’s 2019 World Cup defeat to South Africa

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Anthony Watson believes the Lions can thrive in the First Test against South Africa on Saturday if they learn lessons from England’s World Cup final defeat to the Springboks.

England lost 32-12 to South Africa in the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Many of those England players, such as Watson, are set to face South Africa for the first time since then this weekend when the Lions’s Test series kicks off.

Watson believes lessons can be taken onboard from the World Cup final defeat two years ago, with a fast start and winning the kicking game key aspects in the full-back’s view.

Asked what the Lions can learn from England’s loss in 2019, Watson said: “I think the kicking game, the importance of the aerial and kicking game.

“That was huge in that World Cup final. I think we came out second best to them.

“They definitely dominated us in that area and got great momentum and great field position from that area. That kind of gave them the leg-up that they needed.

“Similar to the South Africa ‘A’ game, as well as the World Cup final, the start was huge. We didn’t put ourselves in good positions in either of those two games.

“Therefore we found ourselves trying to claw our way back into the game, which is more difficult against a team like South Africa.

“So those are the two points that I kind of see in the World Cup final and in the South Africa ‘A’ game.”

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