Eddie Jones saw his England side crash to a fifth successive defeat after a blistering start gave way to a dramatic collapse as South Africa emerged 42-39 winners from a thrilling first Test in Johannesburg.

And following the defeat, Australian Jones had an altercation with some South Africa fans in the tunnel after the final whistle at Ellis Park.

When asked about the incident, the former Wallabies boss said: “They always have plenty to say here, especially when they win.”

Jones was then asked if he responded, and replied: “Of course I did.”

However, the 58-year-old ex-Brumbies coach refused to elaborate further on the exchange, adding: “It’s not for me to share with you. I’m sure you’ll get it on some mobile phone in the world.”

A scarcely-believable 24-3 lead had been amassed by the 18th minute by England, with George Ford acting as ringmaster as Mike Brown, Elliot Daly and Owen Farrell ran in superb tries.

But the match was turned on its head when Faf de Klerk orchestrated a stunning first-half comeback supported by the brilliance of Willie le Roux that enabled the Springboks to take a 29-27 lead into half-time.

Electric debutant S’busiso Nkosi crossed twice to bring Ellis Park to his feet and in between his two tries, Jones hauled off lock Nick Isiekwe, making his full debut, and brought on the uncapped Hurricanes forward Brad Shields.

The second half was dominated by the hosts, whose physicality was matched by a cutting edge in attack overseen by De Klerk and Le Roux, but it was the boot of Handre Pollard that did most of the scoreboard damage through three penalties.

It was the perfect outcome to celebrate a landmark moment in South African history after back row Siya Kolisi had become the first black captain of their Test team.

England could barely have made a better start as a monster 61-metre penalty by Daly was followed by a try that started from inside their own 22, Brown showing strength to finish it off while shrugging two two tackles.

England struck again with Daly making the most of an overlap and two minutes later they were over once more with May finding space to send Farrell over under the posts.

Nkosi’s charge to within inches of the whitewash was followed by De Klerk spinning over, stemming the flow of English points and initiating a high-octane fightback.

On the half-hour mark Nkosi had a half-chance, the danger should have been averted but Daly made a mess of gathering Nkosi’s grubber and the alert Sharks wing touched down.

The dream debut continued when he popped up on the opposite wing after a clever run from Le Roux created the space for fellow debutant Aphiwe Dyantyi to send him over.

Le Roux then turned scorer from a scrum after he exploited a large hole in midfield before two penalties from Pollard opened up a five-point gap.

England then countered but a knock-on ended the attack and their frustration was clear when Mako Vunipola followed through on De Klerk, earning a yellow card.

And in the next play South Africa had all but sealed the outcome when Dyantyi juggled the ball while crossing the line before touching down.

Maro Itoje and May plundered late tries for England, but Pollard’s boot mean the Springboks had done enough despite a nervy finish.