Man-of-the-match: Willem Alberts
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South Africa landed the first blow in their three-Test series with England as a strong second-half showing saw them win 22-17 in Durban on Saturday.
Tries from Morne Steyn and Jean de Villiers did the damage after the turnaround as the visitors struggled to repeat their impressive opening.
It was a deserved win for the Springboks however as they recovered well from a disappointing half that saw the sides go in with six points apiece.
England began in a cool fashion and looked comfortable in possession, taking all the correct options in the opening ten minutes. Ben Youngs was assured at the base while Dan Cole was hungry and Tom Johnson got through a great deal of carrying work as the Boks played second fiddle.
The visitors were rewarded for their efforts too as South Africa debutant Eben Etzebeth failed to roll away after a Cole carry. Consequently, Owen Farrell was able to send over the first points of the series from 40 metres out in the seventh minute.
But that sparked the Boks into life and it was their battering ram, Willem Alberts, who was creating the go-forward, resulting in Morne Steyn drawing his side level with fourteen minutes gone.
There was definitely a chess match feel to the action.
At 3-all the game began to pick up in pace as the likes of Ben Morgan and Chris Ashton made inroads through the heart of the Springbok defence. And Morgan's powerful surge - after a lovely late pass from Johnson - led to Marcell Coetzee offending. Farrell slotted it.
Pictures of the home coaching box illustrated the pressure on new coach Heyneke Meyer, who seemed worried about how his charges were fronting up in his first game at the helm. He wouldn't have to wait long for a reply though as England went offside and Steyn levelled.
That was how the scores stayed until the interval but that could and probably should have been different after Johnson used his hand on the blindside flank of a scrum just outside his own 22. Steyn called for the tee in the last kick of the half but the effort strayed wide.
Stuart Lancaster must have been delighted with how his team had fronted up in the first 40 minutes as they looked confident in their ability in both attack and defence, particularly at the breakdown as on three occasions they had turned over the Boks. That trend had to continue.
Meyer had different ideas though and seemingly rallied his team in the dressing room as England struggled to cope with the lift in intensity upon the resumption. Finally the host were able to enjoy a sustained period of ball as Bismarck du Plessis became prominent.
Cue 20 minutes of South Africa being largely in possession in England's half in a spell that led to Steyn having a mismatch against Johnson five metres out. He crossed for a try on 48 minutes before space opened up on the same wing 12 minutes later for De Villiers.
England were trailing 16-6 at that moment and desperately needed the next score, which they got in two-fold as Farrell sent over a couple of penalties, in the 63rd and 66th minute.
With ten minutes remaining in Durban the game was up for grabs but it was Steyn given the opportunities to see out the game and the Bulls number ten didn't misfire with his penalties, making it 22-12 before a late finish from Northampton's Ben Foden came as consolation.
South Africa meet England in the second Test match in Johannesburg next Saturday.
Man-of-the-match: Alongside hooker Bismarck du Plessis, flanker Willem Alberts carried like a warrior for South Africa. A mention for England debutant Tom Johnson for his first-half.
Moment-of-the-match: The try from Jean de Villiers was a sucker punch to England on the hour mark and put the Boks two scores up at 16-6. From that point on England were playing catch-up and in a second-half where they rarely threatened, the result was arguably settled.
Villain-of-the-match: Barring a bit of push and shove between Owen Farrell and Frans Steyn after the latter had kicked the ball at England's fly-half, it wasn't too feisty at all.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: M Steyn, De Villiers
Pen: M Steyn 4
For England:
Try: Foden
Pen: Farrell 4
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 François Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Wynand Olivier.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Jonathan Joseph.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant refeerees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Scotland)
Television match official: Iain Ramage (Scotland)
By Adam Kyriacou
Comments
markpat says...
I thought Youngs was appalling, as he has been the previous performances for England. How a professional scrum half can kick so appallingly badly is beyond me, especially when that was the obvious gameplan!
@APV1 - I can't believe that I'm actually agreeing that Flood should start. I do, however, think that Farrell isn't too bad if he has Tuilagi and Joseph outside him. With Barrett there, his attacking options are very limited and he's not creative enough on his own. If you play a defensive fly-half, you have to give him an attacking pair of centres. Otherwise it's like when we tried Noon alongside Wilkinson!
Posted 12:30 12th June 2012
isthatrightref says...
@ APV1... I recall saying I hoped your blokes would do enough to show the 'boks that there's more to the game than big forwards & a fly-half who stands deep & kicks a lot... based on the highlights & various reports it appears that it was business as usual from both sides which is sad: any chance of SL saying "to hell with it, let's have a crack at them & see what happens"?
Posted 22:30 11th June 2012
JayStarr says...
@ Trinats: Haha ha... Good one. The Aussies thrashed SA.... lol.
Posted 16:51 11th June 2012
Wallaroo says...
@letsgoboks ROLMAO. Their tip will be, if it's not raining then pour buckets of water down from the roof tops lol.
Posted 14:00 11th June 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
"Moment-of-the-match: The try from Jean de Villiers was a sucker punch to England on the hour mark and put the Boks two scores up at 16-6. From that point on England were playing catch-up and in a second-half where they rarely threatened, the result was arguably settled."
I wish they had played catch up, I was dying of bordom with farrell and barritt's non performance at 10 & 12. you can't just defend against the springboks for 80 minutes. hold onto the ball, give them more to think about that which white shirt they're going to run at next.
Posted 13:50 11th June 2012
letsgoboks says...
Don't worry Wallaroo - we'll have a chat with scotland before we play you next :D
Posted 13:21 11th June 2012
APV1 says...
Well played the Boks and a good win for them.
It wasn't all one-way traffic and I think we can still be proud of the over-all result - keeping it to within 5. But there were some obvious issues:
Our frontrow subs didn't do well. Neither were able to hold their own in the set piece, after Hartley and Marler had done so well. If it hadn't been for their over-eagerness, our scrum was equally as good as the Boks' before the subs came on. Barnes commentated that the subs should be there for impact and (for once) I agree with him. The Bok subs did have a positive impact, ours didn't.
Farrell was shown up at 10, as not having enough creativity yet. He'll get there, but he was not good enough, despite his place kicks.
I think, though, overall we did ok. I am, naturally, disappointed with the result and have no doubt that the Boks deserved to win. But we're not finished yet and have two more tests to go...
Changes I'd make:
Farrell on the bench, with Flood at 10 (did I really suggest that, lawynd?!)
Tuilagi at 12, JJ at 13. JTH on the bench.
T. Youngs to replace Mears on the bench.
Youngs to start, as Flood's at 10. Dickson to provide impact from the bench.
Foden to 15, Monye to the wing - excperience and physicality, over youth and flair, I'm afraid.
Haskell on the bench for Dowson.
So:
15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 James Haskell, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 JTH
Posted 10:55 11th June 2012
Wallaroo says...
Well done Boks. Although England certainly played better than I expected the Boks (extended Bulls side) didn't show too many signs that concern me as a Wallabies supporter. If Meyer continues with Steyn at 10 and Kirchner at 15 (in fact didn't think either Steyn was any good) the Boks will be hammered by the AB's and humbled by the Wallabies.
Posted 10:42 11th June 2012
Trinats2 says...
JayStarr:
They can't be any worse !
PS Did the Bryce is right, ref the game in SA last year that Aus trashed South Africa or the game in Aus after it ??
Posted 04:20 11th June 2012
blametheref says...
I think some are forgetting that the NH sides haven't had a proper break from rugby in over a year, that is a proper 6-8 weeks holiday away from all things rugby. The NH teams are running on reserve and are actually fatigued with too much rugby, they are far from at-peak, more the opposite. They have now been on 2 extended stays in the SH in less than a year; done pre WC matches, the World Cup, their domestic leagues, Heineken Cup, 6 Nations then more domestic league and Heineken Cup, then pre tour warm ups and now these tours themselves....That's one hell of a lot of travelling, aclimatizing and more to the point RUGBY for one calender year, a World Cup calender year...Fatigue is definitely a factor!
Posted 18:06 10th June 2012
JayStarr says...
Imagine how much better the Boks could be next weekend with the following replacements:
Coenie on for Jannie at 3, Keegan on for Spies at 8, Lambie on for Morné at 10... and Siya Kolisi on for Zane Kirchner at 15. (Hey, Kirchner is 'injured' - and Kolisi is in the 'wider training group'... Come on! Let's do it..!)
Posted 15:45 10th June 2012
anotherfarce says...
I thought this game was a ripper the better side won but only just. I expected england to do better from the set piece but I think they will be working on that. If this is an experimental boks side, Aus & NZ can look out come the 4N, very fit & physical definitely to much for the soft bellied Aussie forwards, they are in for a torrid time & I'm very interested to see how the ab's cope with this??
Posted 14:36 10th June 2012
anotherfarce says...
@Jonesy2
"both teams would have been beaten soundly by aus or nz"
Are you seriously on the planet mate, both sides would have beat Oz & I think the boks are definitely a match for NZ. I think your in for a rude awakening come the 4 nations as it will be. the only way you'll beat the boks again is with another stellar performance from "bryce Lawrence" one of Paddy's pocket pets.
Posted 14:23 10th June 2012
martinmarais78 says...
Wow, poor Barritt, waited so long to see his relatives in Durban, now he has to wait another couple of days for the swelling to see them again!
Posted 13:52 10th June 2012
jehosophat says...
Much as I expected, sadly. An improvement from the darkest days of England rugby in the near decade since they consistently beat SA in that it was not a thrashing, but to go down to SA and win you need a settled experienced side, and a good one. This one might become a good side, but at the moment it is too frail.
9 and 10 were weak, as predicted, with a mobile young pack that will not dominate the set piece against the likes of SA we need a confident 9 and 10 that can distribute well not just kick too long all day and mess up passes. From Tuilagi backwards the attacking ability is there, they need good distribution, and coaching in the attacking patterns that SH coaches seem a lot better at than ours.
Whether they pull together or fall apart now will be an interesting test of the new coaching set up and the squad. Haskell, Care and Flood have to start, for me.
Posted 11:29 10th June 2012
itsamyth says...
sorry, I meant ..carry on stroking...
Posted 11:06 10th June 2012
itsamyth says...
People saying these 2 teams would have been wolloped by NZ and AUS are living in lala-land. The Bok pack and, to a leser extent the Eng pack, would have munched the Kiwis and Aussies for breakfast, such was the power and intensity. Comparing Eng to Ireland and their non-existent powder-puff defence and impotent forwards is like chalk and cheese. I cannot wait for Heineke Meyers boys to teach the ABs a real lesson this year. Man, that is going to something to behold. Now carrying on stroking the egos of the IRB's mascots from the beautiful land of the long white cloud.
Posted 11:04 10th June 2012
spliffed says...
I think the difference at the next test will be based on how much room there is for improvement in both teams. I suspect England can improve but not by much whereas SA can and should improve a lot. There has to be room for Broussow and Kolisi. Lambie at fulback from the getgo. But I suspect with the new management the series win is the be all and end all. This should be a time to blood new youngsters and combinations. The series win is not the be all and end all here.. Rather use it as an experimental platform, including the tri nations. This would put the boks in a great place for next season.
Posted 10:42 10th June 2012
Voice says...
@jonesy - I dont think the Aussies are anything to worry about so disagree with your statement, however the AB`s is another story altogether! They would beat these 2 sides with ease.
@ Ruggaluva - Etsebeth bad start? He took his lineout ball, which is key for a lock and thought he did ok. You seem to forget that this kid was playing Varsity Cup last year, what did you expect? You cannot fill Botha/Matfiled boots overnight buddy, nearly 200 caps vs zero. As for Spies, agree non-existent and not worth it. Perhaps Alberts may be better at 8?
I though Lambie and Coenie Oosthuizen were good and would start with Oosthuizen on loosehead. Overall the Boks did it with a very young side and the youngsters did ok, they will lose a few but give them a year or so at top flight and we will see. We had 3 debutants in the pack!! The AB`s had a scrumhalf and wing, huge difference.
Posted 10:27 10th June 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Jonsey: Ashton and Hartley are not hateable so much as you are hateful
Posted 10:25 10th June 2012