South Africa 55, England 22.

Jonny Wilkinson has delivered an upbeat verdict on England's South Africa tour - and he is now relishing the ''brilliant'' prospect of an uninterrupted World Cup build-up.

England will fly home today after shipping 113 points and 15 tries to their pivotal World Cup pool opponents in Bloemfontein and Pretoria.

Although England were far more competitive at Loftus Versfeld - incredibly, they led 19-17 at half-time - the two-Test trip merely continues a demoralising statistical sequence.

It was England's eighth successive away defeat, and their seventh in succession on southern hemisphere soil since winning the 2003 World Cup final, while the 58-10 Bloemfontein battering represented a record loss against South Africa.

When the two countries next meet in Paris on September 14, vital World Cup points will be at stake.

England, who travelled to South Africa without players from European finalists Leicester, Wasps and Bath, then saw the likes of David Strettle, Andy Farrell, Iain Balshaw and Peter Richards hardly kick a ball in anger due to illness or injury, suffered the beatings most pundits predicted.

They can look forward to fielding an infinitely stronger line-up at Stade de France, but Wilkinson maintains an end-of-season mission the game's rulers must outlaw in future World Cup years, still served its purpose.

He said: ''There is nothing but good that comes out of playing a team like South Africa. Some harsh lessons were learnt, and I hope they will stand us in good stead. I defy most teams to play South Africa down here and come out on top.

''What matters now is the next three months. The (World Cup) warm-up period is brilliant because we can get so much done during that time.

"We have confronted a ruthless rugby environment head-on, and given it our best. It has been a joy to be on this tour, and I cannot speak any more positively about the spirit in this squad.

''It was always going to be a tough tour, but we have learnt so much from this trip, probably more than the South Africans.

''The effort has been unquestionable, and this is why I got involved in rugby. Without this trip, we may not have known what we had to work on or those who could make an impact.''

Wilkinson, skipper instead of an injured Jason Robinson, kicked 17 points as England made a much better fist of things than in Bloemfontein.

Wing Dan Scarbrough's interception try even nudged them towards a narrow interval advantage, but then the roof caved in as a South African side bristling with raw power and searing pace cut loose. First half touchdowns from scrum-half Ricky Januarie and flanker Schalk Burger were followed by six more after the break as wing Bryan Habana (2), number eight Pierre Spies (2), lock Bakkies Botha and full-back Percy Montgomery all breached England's exhausted defence.