The Vitality Roses suffered defeat in the opening Test of their three-match series away to South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The SPAR Proteas pulled away in the final quarter to win 52-48.
The Vitality Roses established an early 6-3 lead but the hosts, who Jess Thirlby's side will face at this summer's Commonwealth Games, swung the game in their favour to lead 16-12 at the break.
Looking to cut the deficit and turn things around, Thirlby brought Amy Carter on at centre and switched Funmi Fadoju from wing defence to goal defence for the second quarter.
The Vitality Roses continued to battle hard but the gap remained with Halimat Adio having an instant impact in defence after coming off the bench, stopping the SPAR Proteas from further extending their advantage.
Thirlby injected the experience of Helen Housby and midway through the third quarter, thanks to six unanswered goals, the Vitality Roses had turned the game on its head to pull one ahead.
The stage was set for a grandstand finale with England heading into it with a slender one-goal lead (38-39) but South Africa were quick out the traps to draw level.
The pressure continued to mount in the Ellis Park Arena and the hosts held their nerve to capitalise on unforced errors with the home fans roaring on their side to an opening game victory.
Reflecting on the game, captain Fran Williams said: "I do think we showed tenacity, particularly in the way that we came back out after half-time.
"We didn't start strong, we looked a bit off the pace in attack and we weren't taking the ball cleanly. The South African defence were punishing us for that so we just need to be stronger in terms of the setups and the balls that we're trying to take.
"I'm so proud of my girls in the way that they kept fighting. We need a big response now to come back and win the double header at the weekend."
The two sides meet in the second game of the series on Saturday.
Watch England versus South Africa live on Your Site YouTube from 3pm this Saturday.
