England player ratings v South Africa: ‘Midfield stodge’ and upfront ‘laxness’ expose latest example of Borthwick ‘conservatism’
England's Ben Earl goes on the charge versus South Africa and, inset, Jack van Poortvliet
Following their 45-21 hammering by South Africa in Johannesburg, here is how we rated Steve Borthwick’s disappointing England in their Nations Championship opener.
England player ratings
15 Marcus Smith: Promoted from the bench after George Furbank was admitted to hospital for an appendix operation, Smith’s one-on-one tackling was exposed by Kurt-Lee Arendse’s 12th-minute finish. There was a measure of revenge in that it was his pass that resulted in the deliberate knock-on yellow for Arendse 17 minutes later, creating the numerical advantage that ignited a fightback, but he was anonymous in a second half that included him biting in defensively for the Jesse Kriel try. 4
14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso: Was included to bring a level of power to England’s game, but it was never a factor. Other than a scramble inside his 22 with his team already 12-0 down and then a clean aerial catch 12 minutes into the second half, his play was far too hesitant the whole way through a contest where Borthwick’s team was clearly second best. 4
13 Tommy Freeman: England’s persistence in picking this outstanding winger in their midfield continued to underwhelm. His issues started with a first-minute no-release penalty that ignited the early South African onslaught, and it ended with his 71-minute yellow card for clobbering Damian Willemse up too high after the scoreboard gap had been reduced to 31-21. His experimental selection at outside centre needs to end. 4
12 Seb Atkinson: The biggest match in the rookie’s career will be invaluable to him in the long run, but there were times when his inexperience didn’t help in this emergency, namely when failing to take an offload from Fin Smith early in the second half with the margin at 24-14. This fledgling partnership of Atkinson-Freeman didn’t work, and an England rethink is needed as this was more of the midfield stodge that blighted their recent Six Nations. 5
11 Cadan Murley: As happened before during his previous few selections, he was talked up here pre-game only to be shown to be lacking the necessary class to really be a difference at Test level during his 54 minutes. Was left grasping air like an amateur club fifth team social player when danced by Cheslin Kolbe’s try-scoring six-minute footwork. His holding on penalty also yielded the territory for South Africa’s third try. His only bright moment was a run near the interval, but he was hauled down by Willemse. 4
Springboks weather pre-game loss of Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth to blow England away at Ellis Park
10 Fin Smith: If England had a team of Fin Smiths, the bleed on the scoreboard wouldn’t have been as terrible as the 24-point defeat this turned out to be. As ever, he didn’t shirk the tackle, and his kicking had enlightening moments such as the incident that nearly created a try for Ollie Chessum and then a 50/22 just before the interval. It was a shame his attempted offload to Atkinson didn’t click in the second half, but this was another collective England display shackled by Borthwick’s conservatism rather than inspired by a Lee Blackett attack plan. 6
9 Jack van Poortvliet: A surprise starter, given that Alex Mitchell was available, he had one thrilling moment, a super offload to Finn Smith to ignite England pressure when they trailed 0-17. However, this precision was a one-off, and he otherwise struggled for good moments. It was his unwitting touch that put Jamie George offside to disallow a try. He also ended the first half with an overly ambitious pass nearly getting intercepted by Grant Williams, and there was a soft knock-on a few minutes before his 54th-minute departure. 5
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The forwards
8 Ben Earl: As has far too often been the situation in England’s state of flux, their approach becomes over-dependent on their No.8 and here was no different, the back-rower leading the carry and tackle count but finding himself not having the sufficient support to make all that toil worthwhile. Before he built up a head of steam, he was another slow starter, getting beaten to the lineout throw that South Africa flung out the back in the creation of their opening try. 7
7 Tom Curry: His season provided ample evidence that the current Curry isn’t the Curry of old, and his start here was worrying. But he eventually caught a second wind and went on to rally the first-half England resistance, helping them to leave just a three-point deficit at the break. Slow second-half start, though, exemplified by how he got nowhere near Williams for his score; he then exited just 14 minutes in. 5
6 Ollie Chessum: Having illustrated his thirst for a battle against the odds in England’s fight last time out versus France, he was in rescue mode here after an initial onslaught where he couldn’t get low enough to deny Thomas du Toit his finish. A foot in touch denied him scoring, but he was pivotal to a brief comeback with a lineout steal and a super pass for the scoring George Martin. Was the culprit, along with Curry, for Williams’ second-half try, but he kept trucking despite the worsening situation. 7
5 George Martin: It was Rugby World Cup semi-final 2023 when he saw just how potent Martin can be in frustrating the Springbok engine room, but he struggled amid the early pressure, a botched eighth-minute pass an example of his struggle. Dug in, though, and was decent in what he did afterwards, but he still isn’t back to the standard every England fan knows he can reach. That said, the finish for his try was superb. 6
4 Alex Coles: It can’t be easy filling the void left by the rested Maro Itoje, but this experience will stand to him. He could well have never recovered from his team’s awful start, but his tenacity was instead at the heart of the flame fighting that England got stuck in, and his reward was a 68th-minute try that gave them fleeting hope before their 13-man collapse after Freeman and Guy Pepper got carded. 6
3 Joe Heyes: Managed to play 66 minutes but apart from the 10 minutes before the interval when England forged attacking momentum, it was an evening of fighting fire with only crumbs as a reward. The South African scrum wasn’t a factor, but it didn’t need to be, and his effort wasn’t a cause for cheer. 5
2 Jamie George (c): Can’t take pride in being the skipper of a team that started so poorly and leaked three tries 12 minutes in. It was laxness that included the hooker getting swept aside by an early Ox Nche carry, but he rallied his troops from there and could hold his head high with the fightback from there until the interval. Denied a try because of Van Poortvliet’s unwitting infringement, he threw reliably into the lineout but his energy was sapped in his team’s slack second half opening and he was gone on 56 minutes. 5
1 Ellis Genge: His high tackle on Paul de Villiers, who was carrying the ball in the South African 22, was an example of how difficult England initially found it to find comfort playing at altitude. To his credit, though, the loosehead turbo-charged a renaissance with his no-nonsense tapped penalty that left Thomas du Toit on his backside. That was as good as it got for him, however, and he was a spent force when exiting on 59. 5
Replacements: The introduction of England’s first four changes – Mitchell, Pepper, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie – was soon followed by a South African try, which wasn’t the required bench impact. Its overall lack of lift was later endorsed by Pepper’s sin-binning. 4