Jan Serfontein celebrates as he runs in South Africa’s opening try

by Paul Cook –

South Africa have bounced back from their disappointing loss to Ireland last week with a 31-28 win over England at Twickenham that was more convincing than the scoreline suggests.

Coach Heyneke Meyer had called his side out during the week for their poor performance in Dublin and they responded, combining brutal defence with superior game smarts and a vital cutting edge as England once again failed to come up with the hammer blows when they really mattered.

Down 13-6 at the break, a litany of handling errors and poor decision making from the home side had helped the Springboks gain ascendancy, despite them seeing precious little ball. But a well constructed try after the restart opened up a 14pt gap before Victor Matfield’s yellow card allowed England to roar back with two tries of their own.

The Springboks struck again through Man of the Match Schalk Burger and tit-for-tat penalties left a 28-23 scoreline with 10 to go. A Patrick Lambie drop goal effectively sealed victory for the visitors but there was still time for a fast finishing England to score a third through Brad Barritt to leave them, as last week against the All Blacks, beaten by only 3pts but seemingly some distance away from genuinely challenging the top two in the world.

The opening exchanges were predictably brutal, England aiming to start as they had against the All Blacks, the Springboks keen to reassert their authoritative reputation having been physically contained by the Irish in Dublin.

England had the bulk of territory in the first 10 minutes but execution in the red zone was lacking, not helped by a slippery pill as Twickenham’s grey skies rained down. A couple of half-breaks showed promise, Kyle Eastmond showing his fleet of foot to leave a couple of Springboks in his wake and serve a warning of his capabilities but it was a poor decision from Owen Farrell that led to the first points.

Owen Farrell’s place in the starting line-up must come under scrutiny after another ineffectual performance from the English flyhalf

Pinned under his own posts, the flyhalf showed both composure and some decent pace to carry back to safety. But with a chance to boot to ball and clear upfield, he fed an inside pass to his winger, Anthony Watson, who was outflanked by green jerseys and when the Springbok ranks swarmed in support, an illegal English hand allowed Patrick Lambie to slot 3pts through the uprights and give the visitor’s the early advantage.

A minor blip soon became a growing concern when South Africa raced away for the opening try. With England on the front foot and looking for an immediate riposte, a loose pass from Danny Care was plucked from the air by Jan Serfontein, the Springbok centre streaking away 60 metres to open up a 10-0 lead and furrow many a brow at England’s HQ.

Pressure from the home side eventually earned a rudimentary penalty from Farrell to get his side on the board but they would have wanted greater reward having forged a number of promising insurgencies. A solid set-piece was affording them a platform from which to build on but again, it was that final pass or key decision making that was missing.

Both sides were keen to utilise the rolling maul as a weapon, both sides doing a reasonable job of thwarting the other, legally or not, until a collapsed South African surge just after the half hour tested referee Steve Walsh’s patience and Lambie re-established a 10pt gap on the scoreboard.

Farrell responded five minutes before the break after Duane Vermeulen was a tad over eager at the breakdown and England copped a break when Lambie then pushed a gift 3pts wide of the posts after Tom Wood had conceded a penalty at the lineout, much to the frustration of his coach, Stuart Lancaster.

13-6 at half-time then, England with plenty of ball but lacking invention, South Africa happy to contest at every opportunity and prey on English errors.

They did much more than that a minute after the restart, catching England napping with a perfectly executed play that garnered a second five pointer and opened up a significant lead. An inch perfect chip over the top from Lambie found Willie Le Roux in open field and the flying fullback, nominated for the IRB World Player of the Year award, did what he does best, assessing the situation quickly, running straight at the last man, fixing him and finding Cobus Reinach off his shoulder to slide home for his maiden test try.

Given the option of a 3pt return a couple of minutes later, England opted for the lineout and got some reward when Victor Matfield went to the bin for collapsing. England went again and utilising the man advantage, surged forward en masse for prop David Wilson to flop over under the posts and give voice to the Twickenham faithful at last.

The bruising encounter was one for the purists as both packs hammered the fringes

They were singing with even greater gusto two minutes later when the Red Rose went in again. Another lineout maul was marched almost a full 35 metres to the line before the Springbok defence did enough to halt it’s progress but they couldn’t stop replacement Ben Morgan from peeling off and bouncing off four or five South African jerseys to twist his way over and plant the ball down.

There will be much conjecture from Springbok eyes regarding the try, the initial lineout coming off the back of a questionable ruling that Bryan Habana had carried the ball out when replays suggested otherwise. But referee Walsh was indignant when captain Jean de Villiers complained bitterly as Farrell prepared for the conversion, the try standing and consigned to the record books.

Perhaps sparked by the perceived injustice, South Africa fought back against the odds to illustrate exactly why they are ranked as second only to the All Blacks in the world game. Given an optimum position from which to strike at the opposite end of the field, the visitors backed themselves despite their numerical disadvantage, the experience, aggression and sheer bloody mindedness of veteran Schalk Burger seeing him drive over in the corner to restore a 5pt lead.

They were given further oxygen for their cause when England lost a man on the hour, Dylan Hartley seeing yellow after bringing some old fashioned rucking back into the game. But Lambie’s missed touch finder from the penalty let the hosts off. For the time being.

Another needless lineout penalty on 66 minutes gave Lambie the chance to redeem himself and leave England requiring two scores for a route back into the game. They were gifted one when replacement hooker Bismarck du Plessis, fast becoming a walking penalty-a-thon, allowed George Ford, on for the ineffective Farrell, to bring it back to a 28-23 deficit with a touch over 10 minutes remaining.

Schalk Burger rolled back the years to put in a
Man of the Match performance

South Africa came again, the old heads of Burger, Matfield and Bakkies Botha driving their young charges forward and when another concerted assault on England’s line failed to produce the match sealing score, Plan B was enacted, Lambie in the pocket to drop three more.

England have proven themselves to be consistently strong finishers under Lancaster’s stewardship and their ability to remain a threat for the full 80 minutes came to the fore once more, Brad Barritt on the end of perhaps their most decisive attack with ball in hand to cross in the corner.

Ford couldn’t add the extras from the angle and with only a minute remaining, England were forced to run from deep off the restart in the hope of constructing the unlikeliest of grandstand finishes. It never looked likely and one turnover later, a Springbok boot sent the ball into the stands to extend South Africa’s hold over England to an eighth year.

They sought a minimum three wins from four across the November series but England are now zero from two and five defeats in a row going into next Saturday’s clash with Samoa. One year out from hosting the World Cup, the wheels on England’s sweet chariot appear to be in danger of falling off.

South Africa 31 (Jan Serfontein, Cobus Reinach, Schalk Burger tries; Patrick Lambie 2 cons, 3 pens, drop goal) defeated England 28 (David Wilson, Ben Morgan, Brad Barritt tries; Owen Farrell 2 cons, 2 pens, George Ford pen)