The Springboks started their Nations Championship campaign with a convincing 45-21 bonus-point win over England despite losing captain Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth an hour before kickoff.
The Springboks started like a house on fire, and Thomas Du Toit scored from a pick-and-drive 5-meter from England's tryline after just two minutes of play.
4 minutes later, a bullocking run by Ox Nce led to the ball being spread wide, where Cheslin Kolbe stepped his way to the Springboks' 2nd try. Kolbe converted to extend the Springboks' lead to 12-00.
The Springboks continued to dominate, and when the ball was spread wide to Kurtley Arendse, he crashed over with an England defender on his back, extending the Springboks’ lead to 17-00 after 12 minutes of play.
England dominated the next 20 minutes, and Ellis Genge crashed over, following a quick tap, to cut the Springboks' lead to 17-07 following the conversion by Fin Smith.
With time up on the clock, George Martin crashed over in the corner, cutting the Springboks' lead to 17-14 going into the second half.
The Springboks started like a house on fire in the second half, and Grant Williams, sniping from behind a ruck, scored the Springboks' fourth and bonus-point try, extending the Springboks' lead to 24-14 following the conversion by Cheslin Kolbe.
The Springboks set up camp in England’s 22m using their big forwards to hammer until the space out wide opened up for Jesse Kriel to score the Springboks 5th try. Kolbe’s conversion extended the Springboks’ lead to 31-14 after 17 minutes of play in the second half.
As in the first half, England started to dominate in the final 20 minutes, and Alex Coles forced his way over the tryline to cut the Springboks' lead to 31-21 with 12 minutes still to play in the second half.
With 8 minutes to play, Malcolm Marx scored off the back of a driving maul, which Kolbe converted. Two minutes later, Ben Jason Dixon scored off the back of a dominant scrum to seal a 45-21 win for the Springboks.
Scorers:
Springboks: Tries: Thomas Du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt Lee Arendse, Grand Williams, Jessie Kriel, Malcolm Marx, Ben-Jason Dixon. Conversions: Cheslin Kolbe (5).
England: Tries: Ellis Genge, George Martin, Alex Coles. Conversion: Fin Smith (3).
Teams:
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Cameron Hanekom, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Pieter-Steph Du Toit (c), 3 Thomas Du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Canan Moodie.
England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge. Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie,17 Beno Obano, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Henry Slade.
