TWICKENHAM, England (AP):

ENGLAND AGAIN made too many mistakes under pressure yesterday to lose 42-6 in their worst ever home defeat to South Africa.

After last week's error-ridden loss to Australia, England again enjoyed a large share of possession at Twickenham but were undone by their own bad decisions against a ruthlessly efficient team - the first from South Africa to score more than 30 points at the home of English rugby.

The Springboks took their winning streak against the team they beat in last year's World Cup final to six matches through tries by Danie Rossouw, Ruan Pienaar, Adrian Jacobs, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana.

The game was always out of reach for England after Rossouw rounded off a move that began with a turnover at the other end of the field and Pienaar touching down behind the posts after charging down a needlessly slow kick by Danny Cipriani.

Cipriani had a torrid afternoon in front of a crowd of 81,113, kicking two penalties but giving away possession and frequently putting his own team under pressure.

Defeat means England need an unlikely victory over the All Blacks next weekend to salvage a place in the top four of the world rankings and a place among the top seeds for the 2011 World Cup.

Scoring chances

The more probable scenario is that England will face the possibility of being drawn against one of the three Tri-Nations teams for the tournament.

England again made efforts at adventurous back play but were unable to turn periods in which they recycled countless phases into scoring chances, only threatening the South African line once in the first half despite 60 per cent possession, when Delon Armitage was bundled into touch just five metres short.

England improved dramatically for the start of the second half, with Nick Easter, one of just three England starters to play in last year's World Cup final, dragged down just short of the line following 14 straight phases of possession.

But the damage was already done.