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Springboks flex but England survive to claim monumental Test victory

By PA
Marcus Smith /Getty Images

Marcus Smith kept his nerve to land a last-gasp penalty as England avenged their 2019 World Cup final defeat by toppling South Africa 28-27 in an enthralling climax to the autumn.

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Smith kicked the decisive points with just over a minute left to prevent the Springboks from completing a comeback victory on an afternoon of high drama at Twickenham.

Eddie Jones’ men overcame the early loss of Manu Tuilagi, who was injured while in the act of scoring the opening try, to build a 17-6 lead with the outstanding Freddie Steward also crossing.

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Guess the Olympic Gold medal hero | Sam Quek | England Rugby

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Guess the Olympic Gold medal hero | Sam Quek | England Rugby

South Africa showed resilience in the face of the storm, doggedly defending their line and relying on Handre Pollard’s boot knowing they had won their last three games despite trailing at half-time.

At times England looked willing victims as they gave away penalty after penalty and with their lead eroded by Pollard, they seemed increasingly powerless to stop the momentum shift.

For much of the second half they were entrenched inside their 22, fighting hard for every yard and Pollard eventually kicked the Springboks ahead in the 64th minute.

Defences had reigned but in the space of four minutes they were momentarily shredded as Raffi Quirke and Makazole Mapimpi exchanged slick tries to usher in a nerve shredding final 10 minutes.

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Francois Steyn booted a penalty but South Africa saw captain Siya Kolisi sent to the sin-bin for the last five minutes and England pounced through 22-year-old fly-half Smith when the Springboks were penalised for going off their feet.

For all the pre-match focus on the threat coming from the world champions’ set-piece they came off worse at two scrums and then a line-out, providing an early platform for England to attack.

Smith and Henry Slade, who pushed Steward hard for the man of the match award, created the space for Tuilagi to charge into the corner but it was a bitter-sweet moment as the Sale centre was injured and he hobbled off, his afternoon over.

Jonny May invited pressure on to his team by making two glaring mistakes close to his line, but once the danger has been dealt with England used a scrum to launch a fresh attack with Slade floating the ball long to Max Malins.

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Using his speed, Malins almost reached the line and once May had carried, Ben Youngs sent Steward over from short range with two tacklers unable to stop his powerful surge.

Three penalties from Pollard kept South Africa in the hunt and they were encouraged by England’s lapses in discipline as the lead deteriorated to just 17-12 as the half-hour mark passed.

But only the hosts posed a threat with the ball in hand as they threatened in the 22 time and again with Slade and Malins influential.

Repeated interventions from referee Andrew Brace sent them scuttling backwards, however, and when Smith shanked a drop-goal another attack had amounted to nothing.

Four minutes into the second half the Bomb Squad came on and for the first time South Africa ignited as Kolisi marauded down the touchline.

The tables were being turned as Pollard missed the posts twice and England conceded scrum penalties, but the Springboks now had the wind between their sails.

Pollard successfully readjusted his sights to slash the deficit to two points and only desperate defending over the line prevented South Africa’s increasingly influential maul from breaching the whitewash.

The Springboks took the lead for the first time through Pollard but England’s midfield conjured a moment of magic when Slade put Joe Marchant through a gap and Quirke was on hand to take the scoring pass.

Will Stuart was sin-binned for going in at the side and South Africa constructed a slick try finished by Makazole Mapimpi.

Steyn was on target to put the tourists back in front but with Kolisi off, England rallied heroically with Smith landing the killer blow.

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Comments

1 Comment
d
dan 1080 days ago

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life...and I'm feeling goooood!
My God SA actually played rugby. Well done Boks.

How Pollard wasn't binned for that tackle on Smith is beyond me...but don't expect any character assaination videos aimed at ref from Eddie. After all... he IS the better man!

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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