England scrum-half Danny Care is confident that Stuart Lancaster's side will improve on their performances in the three-Test series against South Africa.

The 25-year-old returned to the side that drew 14-14 with the Springboks in the final Test of the series, which they lost to South Africa in the first two defeats of the contest.

"It has been nearly a year since I last started for England and it was awesome to be out there, starting and playing a full game," ESPN quotes Care as saying. "I don't know where the man of the match came from but I'll take it.

"It was great to be back out there. I'm grateful to Stuart for giving me the chance to play again and show what I can do. It is just a shame we didn't get the win we all wanted.

"I thought our defence was outstanding; the forwards defended their hearts out. We stopped them pretty well, only letting them score one try, but that was one try too many for us. We have high standards and hopefully we can build on this performance."

The Harlequins player, who was dropped from the Six Nations tournament earlier this year for off-field issues, scored the only try of the match in Port Elizabeth.