This evening’s autumn international between England and the Springboks was played at a blistering pace with the Springboks winning 29-20. The Springboks were definitely off their best and have still won by a decent margin. The Springboks can go up a few levels.
England won all the early mini-battles and eventually, the pressure paid off when Marcus Smith dummied the drop-goal before bursting to the left and creating a three-on-two out wide. A great pass put Ollie Sleightholme in space who strolled over the line with ease. England led 07-00 after three minutes of play in the first half.
Ten minutes later Kurt-Lee Arendse does superbly to claim a high kick as he competes in the air with Marcus Smith. The ball is worked to Grant Williams from the ruck and he bursts through the English defensive line before stepping Freddie Steward to score the Springboks opening try to level the scores.
A Marcus Smith converted penalty was immediately replied to by the Springboks with a Pieter-Steph du Toit try. Jack Van Poortvliet had his kick charged down from the ruck by Eben Etzebeth. Marcus Smith was there to sweep up but his kick was also charged down by Pieter-Steph du Toit who won the race to touch down for South Africa’s second try.
After twenty-four minutes of play in the first half, the Springboks were pressing down the left within five metres of the try-line when Manie Libbok kicked-pass out to Cheslin Kolbe on the right who stepped superbly inside Freddie Steward to score the Springboks' third try to lead 19-10.
Four minutes later England mauled from a five-meter lineout-maul whereafter England spread the ball wide until an inside pass to Sam Underhill gave him the space to bulldoze over the line to cut the Springboks' lead to two points.
An exhilarating first half of test match rugby as the Springboks led 19-17 going into the second half.
The second half started like the first half ended, with plenty of drama part of the script. Following both sides having a try disallowed Marcus Smith put England back into the lead with a converted penalty after twelve minutes of play in the second half.
Five minutes later Handre Pollard converted a fifty-meter penalty to retake the lead for the Springboks by 22-20.
With fifteen minutes to play Damian De Allende burst through two English tackles before feeding Cheslin Kolbe to his left. The winger easily stepped past his opposite number Ollie Sleightholme to score the Springbok's fourth try, extending their lead to 29-20.
Following an accumulation of fouls from the Springboks, nine in this second half, Gerhard Steenekamp is given the yellow and the Springboks are reduced to fourteen players with ten minutes to play.
In the final ten minutes of this magnificent test, the Springboks hung on against England who eventually ran out of time. The Springboks won 29-20. England have now lost three successive home matches for the first time since 2006.
Scorers:
England: Tries: Ollie Sleightholme, Sam Underhill. Conversions: Marcus Smith (2). Penalties: Marcus Smith (2).
Springboks: Tries: Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe (2). Conversions: Manie Libbok (2), Handre Pollard. Penalty: Handre Pollard.
Teams:
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge. Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt; 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck.
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am.