Mexico City - England captain Owen Farrell said it hurt to get booed off at Twickenham after a dispiriting defeat to the Springboks in November and the team will need the crowd's support when they play Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.
The defeat to the Springboks at Twickenham ended a poor November series and was seemingly the final straw for the Rugby Football Union (RFU), who sacked coach Eddie Jones and replaced him with Steve Borthwick.
When asked if the boos hurt, Farrell told BBC Sport on Wednesday: "Definitely."
"We were disappointed with ourselves. It didn't sit well.
"You think there's nobody more disappointed than us at the time. To not have given the best account of ourselves was disappointing."
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Borthwick's England will kick off their new era against the Scots at home, with the 31-year-old Farrell continuing as captain.
Farrell is expected to start at inside centre, outside talented 23-year-old Harlequins flyhalf Marcus Smith.
Farrell also sees himself as a flyhalf, but said he would play in whichever position is best for the balance of the team.
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"It's the whole picture that we've got to get right," he said.
"There's no point in me and Marcus working on our partnership and trying to get that right when we need to look at the whole picture," he added.
Farrell said it was also important to have the crowd onside when they begin their Six Nations campaign against Scotland.
"Hopefully this crowd on Saturday sees a team that's willing to fight for each other, to work as hard as they can for 80 minutes to get the result," he said.
After the Scotland game, England will play Italy next week at home before a trip to Wales.
Reuters