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South Africa saw off England with a 16-15 win on a grim Saturday at Twickenham, with a late rally from the hosts seeing them fall short.
Three penalties from Pat Lambie and a bizarre try from Willem Alberts handed the visitors the win, with Toby Flood and Owen Farrell accumulating five penalties between them.
England dominated territory and possession but were naive in attack, lacking direction and depth which made matters simple for the Springboks defence. Too often forwards were found in midfield when England needed a clinical line-breaker. The fact that Tom Youngs was the most effective Red Rose attacker said it all.
An interception break from Manu Tuilagi in the second half summed up their troubles perfectly; Chris Ashton choosing to not back his pace and ultimately seeing England plod forward into another turnover.
South Africa on the other hand were more patient, clinical and superior without anywhere near the same amount of possession - executing to greater effect when inside opposition territory in a replica performance from their victory over Ireland weeks earlier.
Controlling the line-out, they were spearheaded by the excellent Eben Etzebeth and made better use of their kicks to pin England back. Their scrum was also in the ascendancy as time ticked away, gaining the upper hand and reversing England's dominance from the first half.
Mike Brown's clean break in the opening minutes gave England valuable territory, with Toby Flood eventually converting a penalty after South Africa went offside near the posts.
Lambie tied the scores with his first kick of the afternoon but England regained the lead with a penalty from the game's first scrum, Flood returning to the field after being checked for concussion to grab the points.
A knock-on from Zane Kirchner inside his own 22 handed England an opportunity at the scrum - the returning Alex Corbisiero getting the edge over Jannie du Plessis - only for Flood to miss the simple kick wide to the right.
Persistent South African pressure in England's red zone then yielded a penalty for Lambie to give the visitors the lead for the first time at 6-9.
A fine offload from Joe Launchbury released Flood before Alex Goode burst upfield to bring Twickenham onto it's feet. But the chance was wasted after a grubber kick from Flood dribbled beyond the dead ball line. Key defence at the breakdown then helped both teams clear their lines before half-time.
The Springboks started the second half with a bang and after setting up camp in the England 22 scored a bizarre try. Ben Youngs' box kick ricocheted forward off JP Pietersen, with Tom Wood fumbling the ball which dropped into the hands of Alberts who burrowed over for the opening try.
Farrell replaced a wayward Flood and drew England within seven points with a penalty after 60 minutes and then added another as the match went into the closing stages, giving England a chance as they moved within four points.
Faced with a tough decision inside Springbok territory with two minutes left, Farrell brought England within a single point with another penalty kick rather than opting for the corner. Unable to win the restart, South Africa closed out the match and remain unbeaten in November.
Man of the match: One big performance from Eben Etzebeth, dominant in the skies and a joint top tackler with 16.
Moment of the match: England may well regret their decision for points over the corner as the clock ran out.
Villain of the match: Aimless kicking. It entertains nobody and transforms games from spectacles to duds.
The scorers:
For England:
Pen: Flood 2, Farrell 3
For South Africa:
Try: Alberts
Con: Lambie
Pen: Lambie 3
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
By Ben Coles at Twickenham
@bencoles_
Comments
TVaddict says...
@JayStarr
Silly boy, I didn't find malaprade insulting. That would require me to take stupid opinions seriously, and if I started doing that I'd have to take everything you've ever written seriously, and that's obviously not going to happen! My god, you're actually doing the whole 'we are the victims' thing. Do you ever read what you've written? The most moaning childish comments that are around and an embarrassment to your fellow fans . I used to make really bias observations like yours back when I was 10 and couldn't look at things like a neutral, but I grew up. Please do the same.
I'm definitely not a 'Saffa-phobe' having many South African friends and I can get on board with most of the comments on here from your fellow fans. I've already agreed the scrum was refereed badly in favour of England, however South Africans were rolling all over the ball and barely ever got punished. Overall the ref did a bad job but the calls were about 50-50. The ref was not the reason for England's defeat but it was of our own making, we lost that game fair and square (as I have said before). So moaning from me.
The handbags stuff which you've got so ludicrously sensive about (very un-South African of you) was started my English guys not liking Etzebeth rubbing his hands all over Youngs face. Clearly you don't see anything wrong with contact with to eye area, but it is dangerous and you're team mates aren't going to like it. But you really should get over it, I doubt Etzebeth is crying himself to sleep about it so stop bleating nonsense.
@BokAvenger
Are you using the term 'poof' as an insulting term, as though being gay is a bad thing?
Posted 21:53 25th November 2012
Sasquatch says...
And that goes for the trash spewed out by the Bok fans as well...
Posted 19:30 25th November 2012
Sasquatch says...
"I mean, I almost though you were a stereotypical springbok fan, but when you starting talking about Eben Etzebeth as the victim I knew that not even a springbok fan could be that stupid. Like pig stupid. Like cow stupid. No, not possible, so it must be satire. After all Etzebeth had his hands all over Youngs face, he yet again made contact with the eye area. Does he ever learn? That's a citing waiting to happen. Hopefully nothing too much, maybe a week just because of the repeated offence. Needs to learn."
PR??? I as a South African and Springbok fan find this insulting. If you guys are ok with this kind of post then I'll spend my time elsewhere.
Posted 19:25 25th November 2012
Cass402 says...
I told myself "dont look at the comments section" when i logged on to read the match report because of the level of vitriol which normally appears after England and South Africa games, but i did and i am utterly shocked at this new level of football terrace hatred. Jesus people, whats happened to having a beer and a pie after the match and dicuss (like RUGBY FANS) what happened in the game. So what if Corsisero was scrummaging illegally...he got away with it this week but next week he probably wont, its not a NH stitch up. Last week Poite pinged Englands scrum off the park, get over it. SA's try WAS extremely LUCKY but it was given...move on (just as England did). Etzebeth DID put his hands on Youngs face...watch it again and freeze it, but so what the referee and assistant ref saw nothing to worry about so, again, get over it...5 English thugs picking on a 21 year old BOY...bloody hell, why didnt you run onto the pich with your hand bag and fight them off because you sure sound like his mum...just a bit of levity to try to counter the rather sickly serious thread on here.
@Bokavenger, mate you hit hit the nail on the head...unfortunately rugby is not taken as seriously here as in South Africa and yes socially we, as a nation, are fairly cowed by living in a joke of a country. However, i take issue with you calling us a bunch of poofs...you made a good point but then went and chucked in a slur...well done you bellend!!!!
Posted 19:23 25th November 2012
side_stepper says...
what is it with alberts scoring tries against england?
Posted 19:22 25th November 2012
Cass402 says...
l
Posted 19:02 25th November 2012
lacroix says...
so the real story seems to be, aside from the usual charming banter, that england are so poor , particularly at 9 and 10 but also with ball in hand in most positions, that they managed to lose to a really indifferent south african side..
ashton was dreadful- really dreadful - and looks like he's lost some pace too. robshaw is out of his depth and was clearly tied in mental knots by coverage of the poor decision making last week.
dull game- neither of these teams have been entertaining to watch for too long.
Posted 16:24 25th November 2012
carpelone says...
How can you possibly disagree with boksmashoffice?
The positives are the wins and the pack. Etzebeth will be the dominant force at 2nd row, the second best Bok's pack would be still one of the best packs around.
Negatives. Pienaar, Lambie, JDV and Kirchner.
Once we used to say that forwards win the games and backs just set the score, I believe it is no more true, they need to be more and more involved around the park and increase their work rate. Can you tell me how many balls De Jongh touched in comparison to Smith?
We have good forwards and an extremely good defence, we need to sort out the backs, both in terms of selected players and in terms of how we want to use them.
Posted 15:13 25th November 2012
JayStarr says...
@ malaprade: Thanks for that... Glad to see someone else actually paid attention to what really happened.
@ mfblions: Good assessment. However, regarding HM and the Boks' tactics, I actually think they played a bit differently in this game. I liked the way Lambie took the ball up and probed with his little kicks, and the way the Boks at least TRIED to move the ball - even though it was so wet. And then also considering the Springboks lost a whole bunch of top players after the WC, and has since lost a whole host of the remaining top players to injury, going unbeaten on this tour is perhaps not so bad? Let's judge him next year when he has guys like Habana and Bismarck back who can compete with NZ's star players.
@ melkdave: Go read your scrum laws and watch the game again - especially the replays from the sky-cam. Then make that statement again. If what you were doing in the first half worked so well, why didn't you carry on doing it then? You certainly didn't dominate our scrums in the 2nd half...
@ TVaddict: If you think malaprade was insulting, read my post, you condescending t*sser. ;)
@ Spartacus: Round of applause to you! I agree 99%. I don't agree with point 7 - that knock-on by Kirchner in his 22 was inexcusable at this level. The good kicks he made from the back is the LEAST a full-back at this level should do, so don't pat him on the back too hard for that.
@ rugby_lord: In December.
@ Sasquatch: Considering the consistent rain throughout the game, the game was not THAT bad... With teams like England and South Africa it could've been MUCH worse in such conditions.
Posted 14:35 25th November 2012
rohouk says...
Said it last week and say it again. It is the 10 12 13 axis that is the problem. Time for Burns Farrell Joseph with Barrit on bench. Wings - lets stop messing around. Thank you Ashton but time to go. Lets look at the electric wade at Wasps and keep Brown on the other. This gives us more options in attack and defence. Goode is there for keeps. Personally I would also go back to Dickson at 9. Forwards now there I see no need to change.
Lets have a go at the ABs but be realistic it will be a 20 point difference come final whistle
Posted 14:05 25th November 2012
JayStarr says...
@ TVAddict: The only stupid pig around here is you. Only, you're clearly as blind as a bat as well. I suggest you watch that incident again on a large screen television and in slow-mo and have somebody explain to you what's happening. You are so typically English - 5 British thugs can jump onto a 21-year-old BOY who is doing nothing wrong, yet you try and make the latter out to be the thug just because you've convinced yourself he is a bad guy. And this just because an English citing officer, who is just as much a Saffa-phobe imbicile as you, invented a case of eye-gouging against this same poor guy the week before in a typically English underhanded attempt to get rid of our best player so that your pathetic team can finally have a chance of winning... Why don't you stop whining and start winning. Loser.
@ BillyMutt2: Did you ever consider that living in a country where rugby is the no.1 sport and where we are completely surrounded by it every day of our lives might mean we actually know something about this game and what good refereeing is? Did you ever consider that we perhaps have the best referees in the world because they have to operate in an environment where the fans know their stuff and set very high standards? Did you ever consider that we were correct about Bryce Lawrence? We won this game but we're complaining about the ref - did you ever consider that perhaps we have a point? Before you go "bloody Saffas complaning about the ref again", consider that perhaps we have a point. Nigel Owens was pedantic, biased and INCREDIBLY condesending and rude - how dare he say to someone like Jannie du Plessis that they don't know how to scrum!? Or the way he spoke to Etzebeth! You will NEVER see a SA referee treat a player so disrespectfully. I'm sure Owens would not have treated the Springboks like that if they were playing in SA - so why at Twickenham?
Posted 14:05 25th November 2012
leebok says...
I was at the game and just watched it again. SA were much better in the scrums. Corbasiero was doing the illegal scrummaging. Take off 6 points for england. SA had 90% of the gain line advantage. England were going back in most tackles. Etzebeth was not to blame for the ruckas. Youngs and the 5 England players getting involved caused it. And I was appaled by Ashtons cowardly display by hitting Etzebeth on the head while he was down,. Hopefully he gets cited for it. And the Samoan was off side for his interception which probably prevented a 2nd SA try. The boks are poor, but England are woeful. 100% tour. Thank you.
Posted 14:03 25th November 2012
boksmashoffice says...
I watched the match back . Here are my opinions
1. English fans saying you had a dominant scrum, well you did not. Your man Corbisairo was going inwards and the only guy going forward was Jannie.
What positives can the Boks take away from this tour
1. 3 wins
2. The back row combo
3. Eben is the real deal.
4. lambie given game time at 10 and is getting more confident. He tried little chip kicks that nearly came off.
5. De Jongh at 13 (quite game but will get better)
6. Struass a great deputy fro Bismark (would defo rotate these guys)
7. The bench v England was more balanced.
8. The line outs were back to normal
9. Lots of injured players to come back (smith, goosen, burger, bismark, connie, habanna, beast Spies( will mess up back row combo) to name a few
10. A distant 2nd in world long way off the ABs
Now thew negatives (sorry Spartacus)
1. Kirchner is not a international 15 (The man wears a hair band for christ sake) how can we take him seriously. Taute, Pietersen or Aplon are better options.
2. Player development: The point of a tour is to develop new guys and give them game time. (look at the ab's on tour, practically 2 teams playing week in week out and winning)
3. We need a proper winger on the wing not a 9 (Rhule or Mvovo)
4. Pienaar is like a yo yo. Not consistent. Was very poor v England, should have been benched and maybe play Hoougard at 9.
5. The backline lacks creativity (Loubsher feck off back to the bulls)
6. Our skill sets have to go up another level (passing, running lines, tactical kicking)
7. We need a clear vision for where we want to be at the moment it is play like the bulls a 10 man game and kick the points.
8. JDV needs to go as he is very limited as a player. Again no one has been developed to step in so he will continue
The main thing is we are winning playing badly. We can only get better.
Go Bokke
Posted 11:54 25th November 2012
boksmashoffice says...
I watched the match back . Here are my opinions
1. English fans saying you had a dominant scrum, well you did not. Your man Corbisairo was going inwards and the only guy going forward was Jannie.
What positives can the Boks take away from this tour
1. 3 wins
2. The back row combo
3. Eben is the real deal.
4. lambie given game time at 10 and is getting more confident. He tried little chip kicks that nearly came off.
5. De Jongh at 13 (quite game but will get better)
6. Struass a great deputy fro Bismark (would defo rotate these guys)
7. The bench v England was more balanced.
8. The line outs were back to normal
9. Lots of injured players to come back (smith, goosen, burger, bismark, connie, habanna, beast Spies( will mess up back row combo) to name a few
10. A distant 2nd in world long way off the ABs
Now thew negatives (sorry Spartacus)
1. Kirchner is not a international 15 (The man wears a hair band for christ sake) how can we take him seriously. Taute, Pietersen or Aplon are better options.
2. Player development: The point of a tour is to develop new guys and give them game time. (look at the ab's on tour, practically 2 teams playing week in week out and winning)
3. We need a proper winger on the wing not a 9 (Rhule or Mvovo)
4. Pienaar is like a yo yo. Not consistent. Was very poor v England, should have been benched and maybe play Hoougard at 9.
5. The backline lacks creativity (Loubsher feck off back to the bulls)
6. Our skill sets have to go up another level (passing, running lines, tactical kicking)
7. We need a clear vision for where we want to be at the moment it is play like the bulls a 10 man game and kick the points.
The main thing is we are winning playing badly. We can only get better.
Go Bokke.
7. JDV needs to go as he is very limited as a player. Again no one has been developed to step in so he will continue
8.
There is lots
Posted 10:08 25th November 2012
jehosophat says...
Very very frustrating for an England fan, that. Yes the try was bizarre but stuff happens -the simple fact is that it was stuff under our control that cost us. A bright start was marred by two terrible penalty misses (Farrell must be better bet than Flood for this sort of match) and two equally awful penalties conceded , under minimal pressure, just stupid. And various break outs were ruined by an awful final pass -contrast that to NZ against Wales, with runners committing the defender then making perfect passes. Basic skills. The high kicks were awful too - always too far ahead. Some bright signs again and a better side than last week but we have to sort this basic stuff out, now.
Posted 10:08 25th November 2012
Artherfish says...
@ mitcymauler
The way I see it is that after sir Clive w got us to the top of world rugby the old farts at the RFU decided to take control of English rugby. Thanks very much Clive we can do without you now, after all we don't want you getting big headed! Here's a knight hood run along.. Go organise an Olympics or something. They then proceeded to deconstruct any kind of cohesive coaching structure that might threaten thier control of the national side again. Que a succession of puppet coaches. Andy Robinson is a good second tier coach but won't lift a team to the top. Witness Scotland's present state, full of talent and no idea what to do with it. Apionting a former world class captain who has never coached and surrounding him with RFU men, do needed to say more. England's problems of recent years have not been caused by the players but with the very top of our structure. Stuart Lancaster has been given greater control only because the RFU have been forced to relinquish it through embarisment at being so bad so lose to a home World Cup. Sir Clive is still criticised by many but he got us winning and did so by organising a good coaching structure and making sure his team learnt to play as a team and think like winners. Stuart Lancaster must do the same but he is doing it against a history of bad coaching and insiatutional meddling. Those who claim England don't have the players to win are wrong but they have more to learn. I'm sure it feels good to our Sotheby's hemisphere brothers to dismiss us as no good but the margins at the top level are very small. The fact is we have been a bad dessicion or unlucky bounce away from winning those games we have recently lost. Yes we lost them and yes it is our fault, not bad luck! But if we therefor correct the onfielld issues we must surely start winning. Over to you Stuart.
Posted 10:04 25th November 2012
makemehappy says...
Shame Owens did ref the scrum properly. Would have been a much more comfortable win otherwise.
Hope England keep Robshaw as captain. Besides looking clueless, they now have stupidity on their side!
Posted 09:45 25th November 2012
davodiablo says...
Ben Youngs toe hacks a ball 5m from his own line (maybe too scared to throw his body on the ball) it ricochets on to Ben Morgan who knocks the ball on(putting all SA players onside) and into the hands of Albert's who scores . English media scream unlucky and the better team lost .More like complete incompetence. As the saying goes you create your own luck .
Posted 08:56 25th November 2012
TheOracle says...
Agree with Bok avenger, England and the British & Irish Lions problem when playing SA is their obsession with trying to out thug the Bok's. The last time the Lions played in SA it probably went down as the most unpleasant series ever egged on by a pack of reporters from the UK gutter press. Aus are not far behind England in this respect. I think their is tremendous depth, Burger, Spies, Kankowski, Coetzee, have to play themselves back into the team. Etzebeth, Coetzee, Lambie etc in early twenties, all 3 have the potential to become greats. Meyer must keep going and it is only a matter of time before the team clicks. All about confidence and mental strength now. If Meyer takes the populist route now we are doomed, Kirchener is a case in point, everyone baying for his head yet he has never let the team down once. I hope England pressurise the AB's next week, nothing like watching the AB's chase a game and fall apart when they don't take a quick and easy lead, it wii set the cat amongst the pigeons. As for Aus, credit to them for making the top 5 in reality they should not be close to competing with the pack they have.
Posted 08:33 25th November 2012
jonesy2 says...
boks as usual made a meal of an easy game against a poor opponent. wallabies and boks seem to be trying to outdo themselves
Posted 08:07 25th November 2012