Late missed effort: Owen Farrell
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England put in a spirited performance to deny the Boks a series whitewash as the two sides played out a 14-14 draw in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Owen Farrell did have a chance to snatch victory for the visitors but missed terribly to the left with a drop-goal from 35 metres out as the June series ended 2-0 to the side wearing green and gold.
But there were plenty of positives for England to take home as this was a much-improved effort against a team that went backwards from Jo'burg. One being Thomas Waldrom, Tom Johnson and Danny Care's performances on the tour finale.
It was evident that England were fired up for this final Test as they looked to salvage something from what has been a tough and physical June. They managed to transfer that fire into points too early on as good phase play led to Toby Flood opening the scoring from the tee on two minutes.
Morne Steyn did respond five minutes later when England infringed at a ruck before the visitors illustrated their intent at the other end soon after. Care was the main man making the noise in his comeback game on the Test stage as he chose to tap a penalty quickly and burrowed over from close range. Care's decision was a bold statement but one that paid off as England continued to keep the passionate supporters at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium quiet.
Flood missed the extras and that proved to be his last act of the game on twelve minutes as he struggled to shake off a niggling issue. England's loss of their fly-half was cushioned by the fact the tourists had started much better than last week, assuming an 8-3 advantage.
However, they would not score again in the first-half as when lock Tom Palmer slowed down possession at a ruck, Steyn stepped up to bring the Boks back to within one point. He would strike again on 28 minutes when Stuart Lancaster's outfit was caught offside to begin a long spell of home attacks. England stood firm though and it was clear their steeliness was causing frustration to their hosts, who were missing Willem Alberts and Frans Steyn.
Lancaster would have been pleased with the pride being shown by his players in their last game of the season, but maybe not with Dylan Hartley six minutes after Owen Farrell had pushed England back in front from the tee. Hartley was carded for slowing down the play.
Those ten minutes approaching the hour mark were always going to be critical in the game but it was to be once Hartley returned that South Africa had their moment. Following a series of runners testing the English defensive line five metres out, Ruan Pienaar moved the ball out where JP Pietersen was waiting to dive over for back-to-back tries in this series. Steyn missed the conversion which meant the scoreline was 14-11 with fifteen minutes to go.
Farrell did tie things up to set up a nail-biting finish which saw South Africa knock at the door before England survived and launched their own final throw of the dice for victory. However, Farrell's attempted match-winning drop-goal with the last kick of the game failed miserably.
Man-of-the-match: Mentions for the work that Gio Aplon, Marcell Coetzee and Tom Johnson got through, but England's Danny Care announced his return to the Test scene with a fine 80-minute effort. He was busy and most definitely got the better of Francois Hougaard.
Moment-of-the-match: It may seem harsh to single out a player but England lost something when Toby Flood was forced off with an injury. Owen Farrell kicked too much and thus cut down the threat the visitors had posed early on, which saw them score eight points.
Villain-of-the-match: The disappointing result for South Africa. How dare they take down the mood on absent Springbok centre Francois Steyn's big wedding day. A toast to 2-0?
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Try: Pietersen
Pen: Steyn 3
For England:
Tries: Care
Pen: Flood, Farrell 2
South Africa: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Bjorn Basson.
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran Jones, 18 Mouritz Botha, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Brad Barritt.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), John Lacey (Ireland)
By Adam Kyriacou
Comments
Wallaroo says...
Well it seems that only NZ have real depth to play with and a lot of it.
Unless Meyer can come to terms with the difference between Boks and Bulls, you Saffas are going to be in deep mire. Based on the S15 RSA has loads of potential but clueless when it comes to picking combinations, etc.
I'm not discounting England who put up a decent fight however a Bok team made up of potential over "who can I pick from the Bulls first" would have been far better.
Posted 03:47 24th June 2012
hayj05 says...
And well, well. So it is, that Scotland, albiet in the most favourable circumstances, end up being the only NH side to register a victory over the big 3 on tour. Is there a Rugby fan in the world that would of predicted that? If so.... He/She's probably a Scotland fan.
Posted 02:40 24th June 2012
safehands says...
I'm a bit perplexed about the hype around Goosen....yes he is very good flyhalf....at Super Rugby level, but he has not played a single minute of International rugby yet. There is a huge step up from S15, so how big an impact he could make remains to be seen. The problem for SA is not just Morne, outside of him the back line is pretty average...not in terms of personnel but in terms of they have very little idea on how to create tries on a consistent basis. This has been something the Boks have had trouble with for years, not just with this team. If the forwards can't dominate, SA look average. Case in point......yesterday's game.
Posted 02:34 24th June 2012
hayj05 says...
Steyns goal kickng stats for the series = 12/23 (52%). Now that's not just embarrassing for Steyn who is the best place kicker in the world when on form but that is embarrassing for any place kicker. Anyone think he'll be dropped by Heyneke though?
Felt sorry for him when they were booing him.
The day Goosen cements a starting spot is the day SA will become a more assured attacking side.
Posted 02:33 24th June 2012
NHsaints says...
Well everyone has learnt something useful from this tour - for england: we're back on the up, care needs to be starting games as does flood, waldrom is an ample backup 8, we've got plenty of backrow depth and Robshaw IS A 7!! Our front row really can tangle with the best in the world and with some more simple adjustments we'll be top side in the hemisphere come next june. for SA - there are far too many bulls players in the squad, get the likes of pieterson and aplon to replace the off form players like kirchner, Habana hasn't lost it and is now (once again) the best winger in top-tier international rugby, JDV isn't past it and makes a good captain and 13, there are plenty of young but experienced and talented players available to the boks now - the front row, both the locks, the back row needs some work but with brussow, kankowski and burger in it'll be quite formidable, hougaard is great and GOOSEN needs to play 10- he's brilliant and we all know it.
Posted 23:29 23rd June 2012
Trappedinoz says...
Wish some of these Bok supporters would stop whining. Both sides had influential players missing. SA & Australia both played on their home turf & both played in very tight series. England & Wales have shown what any reasonable rugby fan knew - there's not much difference between the hemispheres right now, there just isn't. Of course, that's with exception of the AB's, who could blast anyone on their day & win ugly more times than not when it isn't.
Posted 22:53 23rd June 2012
ABlack says...
Waldrom- another outstanding Test debut from a Kiwi(just like Cane,Romano)
Posted 22:15 23rd June 2012
JayStarr says...
@ melkdave: I think if Johan Goosen was fit and HM picked Morné Steyn ahead of him South Africa would've rioted..! As far as I can remember his shoulder injury ruled him out for 4 months, which means he'll miss the rest of the Super Rugby season... and will only be ready about half-way through the Rugby Championship. But the fact that he'll have to come back through the Currie Cup, combined with the fact that we'll be playing NZ by then, makes it very unlikely that he'll play a feature role. Such a pity, because he was about 10 times better than Steyn this year...
Posted 22:12 23rd June 2012
Zandberg says...
As expected, Heinrich Brüssouw's poaching was sorely missed whenever it got tight and England attacked. He and Bismarck were so effective together in 2009 and 2011. Also with king poacher Coenie out of the picture, HM didn't do his homework in this regard. Agree with everyone's exasperation at Morne's poor goal- and field-kicking and the Boks' pointless kicking away of possession. Lets hope Heyneke and Rassie learn their lessons. Lets hope... Well done to England for their improvement through the series and showing up the Boks' flaws!
Posted 22:09 23rd June 2012
olepete says...
A remarkable day's rugby, but why do NH sides love to kick away possession, even at crucial times? And PR couldn't find anything to say against Steve Walsh - but then, England didn't lose.
Posted 22:08 23rd June 2012
boksmashoffice says...
Well done to England for making a game of it. The Boks were shocking from the first minute to the last and were very lucky not to lose. Morne I think you know your time is up (you should have kicked your points today). Maybe Lambie at 10 (if Goosen not fit) for Championship. Oliver was out of his depth. Jacques Potgieter was poor and was often knocked back in contact. The backs coach has to be sacked. This brand of rugby would mean we will be competing for the wwooden spoon with Argentina. The bench was also poor. HM has a bit of thinking to do before our next match and the axe I hope is going to be used on a few of the bulls players.
Posted 21:54 23rd June 2012
boksmashoffice says...
Well done to England for making a game of it. The Boks were shocking from the first minute to the last and were very lucky not to lose. Morne I think you know your time is up (you should have kicked your points today). Maybe Lambie at 10 (if Goosen not fit) for Championship. Oliver was out of his depth. Jacques Potgieter was poor and was often knocked back in contact. The backs coach has to be sacked. This brand of rugby would mean we will be competing for the wwooden spoon with Argentina. The bench was also poor. HM has a bit of thinking to do before our next match and the axe I hope is going to be used on a few of the bulls players.
Posted 21:54 23rd June 2012
Carpelone says...
Massively disappointed. If Steyn can't kick, he must stay out. He missed at least 8 points and he gave England the opportunity to score a five pointer. With Lambie and Goosen out, that was a quite useless game. Highly frustrating.
Posted 20:57 23rd June 2012
brands says...
there will need to be a major improvement to be anywere near the ABs in the up coming series, right now NZ would easily put 50 past SA,
Posted 20:45 23rd June 2012
JayStarr says...
@ FISH: Lol - now you feel like I felt when HM picked the squad... I was so furious at the blatant insanity of picking guys like Kirchner, Morné Steyn, Potgieter, JJ Engelbrecht, Jano Vermaak, etc. ahead of Aplon, Joe Pietersen, Peter Grant, Juan de Jongh, Siya Kolisi, Heinrich Brussouw, Charl McLeod, etc. - who are all FAR better players. I mean - Engelbrecht and Vermaak sits on the Bulls' BENCH! And he says they're better than Juan de Jongh and McLeod!? Or picking Steyn AND Kirchner ahead of Lambie in the first test!?
But still the Boks did well in the first two tests! So can you imagine how good they'll be when he finally picks the best players..? I hope HM has learned his lessons and fires Louis Koen and Ricardo Loubser before the Rugby Championship - and keeps Morné Steyn, Kirchner, Olivier, Werner Kruger, Flip vd Merwe, Potgieter, JJ Engelbrecht, etc. FAR away from the Springboks, because those who played clearly have nothing special to offer at this level - and NONE of them are the best players in their positions... Not even the 2nd best!
I'm not too dejected though... We went into this test series with a largely 2nd string side (luckily nobody accused us of "resting" players this time!) and did very well in the first two tests. If you think about the guys who were out for this series(for various reasons), you'll remember that we are missing some very big names: Andries Bekker, Schalk Burger, Duanne Vermeulen, Heinrich Brussouw, Juan Smith, Fourie du Preez, Johan Goosen, Juan de Jongh, Jaque Fourie, etc. And then for this last test we were missing Coenie Oosthuizen, Alberts, Lambie and Francois Steyn... So it's basically an entire team!
We'll be fine - as soon as we're back to full strength and HM starts picking the best players.
Posted 20:18 23rd June 2012
Headhunter99 says...
Really enjoyed the game i, England are developing and have learned a lot on this tour, not the least how big and powerful the SA and Kiwi players are. Lots of good positives to work with over the coming couple of years.
South Africa I see developing into a super side as well, I know some of our Saffa brethren are unhappy but again I reckon SA are in a much better place than they were.
Finally I have to admit that watching the New Zealanders hammer (Kidneys own words) the Irish was quite fantastic. The Irish are no mugs and a 60 point score just shows how far we are all behind them.
Posted 20:06 23rd June 2012
Dingbat32 says...
Hopefully this highlights that Meyer needs to look beyond Steyn at 10. Not sure why he finished the game today.
Posted 19:56 23rd June 2012
melkdave says...
@Jaystar
Have to agree with you about M.Steyn being out of form.If J.Goosen was fit ,that would i feel have been very interesting Any news abouthis injury ,is he going to be fit for the RC ,i hope so
@FISH
I know exactly how you feel ,i stopped my post on the Wales-Australia game because i was so angry ,with the way Wales have played this whole series ,and espically the final test .THEY WHERE PATHETIC.Your not going to get many chances of Australia playing that bad .Yet Wales where even worse.Just take a long hard breath and remember its just a game all said and done
@flyman
You obvisously didnt see the Wales -Australia game ,where both sides where bad in that game ,and if they continue playing like that They both will get hammered by everyone
Posted 19:56 23rd June 2012
zambokke says...
No worries: Andries Bekker, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger, Heinrich Brussow, Bakkies Botha etc to strengthen the forwards squad and add great experience (even if from the bench). F. Steyn and Willem Alberts returning. Some changes to the backs needed - but we have the depth. Move over M.Steyn, Olivier, Kruger, VD Merwe etc. I feel quite positive and think that this game highlights weaknesses. When we play England in November the team could look completely different. Weren't the ABs amazing today!!!!!! Yipes!!
Posted 19:48 23rd June 2012
NHsaints says...
@Flyman....which is why England beat all but wales in NH, haven't lost to aus in the last 2 games they've played and ran Nz close in twickenham last time out...yeh they're both so awful...
Posted 19:42 23rd June 2012