England’s Marcus Smith could not mastermind victory over world champions South Africa
England lost their third consecutive Autumn Nations Series as world champions South Africa suffered a 29-20 victory.
After narrow losses to New Zealand and Australia in previous weeks due to missed opportunities and tactical errors, England were beaten by a bigger margin by the Springboks on this occasion, who managed to keep the error-prone side at bay. only 14 players for most of the closing stages.
A torrid first half saw England 17-19 up at the break after five tries were scored in the opening 26 minutes.
England took an early lead through Ollie Sleightholme, but South Africa roared back when Grant Williams first crossed under the post, then Pieter-Steph du Toit powered down Marcus Smith’s clearance and Cheslin Kolbe finished off Manie Libbok’s best cross-field kick.
Pieter-Steph du Toit scored South Africa’s second try against England in a frantic first half
England’s Sam Underhill clawed his way back into the game when he returned with a second try before the interval.
But after regaining the lead through Smith’s penalty in 52 minutes at 20-19, it was Kolbe again through for the second and South Africa’s fourth attempt to see them regain the lead they will not leave.
England – Tries: Sleightholme (4), Underhill (26); Conversions: Smith (5, 27); Penalties: Smith (16, 52)
South Africa – Tries: Williams (11), Du Toit (17), Kolbe (22, 63); Conversions: Libbok (12, 23) Pollard (64); Penalty: Pollard (59)
Handre Pollard, the man who kicked South Africa’s 16-15 World Cup semi-final win over England more than a year ago, returned with the boot to kick the penalty that put the Springboks ahead of the converted score.
It will prove the last points of the game where England came up short for a fifth successful defeat stretching back to the end of the summer’s Test series in New Zealand.
How England fell again
There was once again an electric atmosphere around Twickenham with a crowd of over 81,000 in the stadium to see the first meeting between the two countries since the thrilling World Cup semi-final in Paris in October 2023.
In one of the most chaotic opening quarters for a Test match in the history of this ground, five tries were exchanged in the first 26 minutes.
England landed the first blow to the raucous reaction of the packed house as remember the Sleightholme winger pass from Smith’s clever early dummy drop-goal try and then neatly pass out the corner to the left.
But even if Smith added extras and South Africa started to get nervous, he would not be written off.
Ollie Sleightholme scored England’s opening try against South Africa at the start of the game
First scrum-half Williams raced away from Freddie Steward’s challenge to cross under the posts, then flanker Du Toit accused Smith of trying to clear after Jack van Poortvleit also miscued a box kick in the corner before Kolbe crossed another. the weak side of Manie Libbok’s brilliant cross-field kick.
England looked injured but Underhill, one of four changes to the starting XV from the defeat by Australia, barged his way through to claw them back into it with his second try in a pulsating first half.
But despite closing the half with momentum, it was South Africa who restarted with more promise and looked to be taking the lead when Kurt-Lee Arendse was released by full-back Aphelele Fassi on the left wing only to feed the defender. has been refereed forward by television match official Ben Whitehouse.
England’s Maro Itoje was penalized for rolling his neck as Henry Slade appeared to have scored his third try
The let-off may have hurt England, but they also scored a try for Henry Slade after an earlier neck roll by Maro Itoje appeared on replay.
Smith kicked England in front soon after to put them 20-19 ahead, but that would prove to be the last point of the contest.
After Pollard helped South Africa regain the lead at 22-20 with a penalty that bounced and went over the crossbar, lightning winger Kolbe returned the favor to help the team more than the score converted in front in the 62nd minute.
Damian de Allende was the architect as he beat low tackles from Slade and then Ben Earl before opening up the right.
England had the opportunity to take the match deep but repeated discipline and handling errors cost and in the end could not take advantage of the yellow card for replacement prop Gerhard Steenekamp with 12 minutes to play.
Cheslin Kolbe touched down for a try in either half for South Africa
George: “We don’t adapt”
England captain Jamie George spoke to TNT Sports:
“We saw that it was a game with a good margin.
“I think for large parts of the last five games (which we’ve lost) we’ve looked good but the final pieces have been missing – missed tackles, discipline.
“It’s been a different cause in the game but our fundamentals are not close yet. We have to keep working and everything will work out.
“We are a very smart rugby team and we work hard to do what we do. But we didn’t adapt well (against South Africa).
England captain Jamie George saw his side lose three times in as many weeks to southern hemisphere opposition.
“We know it’s not good enough, but I hope (the fans) can see there’s a lot of fight and a lot of effort in this team and stay with us.
“I couldn’t be more confident in the character of the people, not just the players but the staff.
“I think we have the right people and character and I am very optimistic about the future.
“The performances of Sam Underhill, Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet put on the back of not so much international rugby is the sign of a good team.”
England head coach Steve Borthwick has seen his side lose five games in a row for the first time since 2018
England head coach Steve Borthwick:
“It’s really frustrating. I think the frustration of the players, the disappointment of the supporters.
“As much as we can feel positive, we want to win games. We’ve put ourselves in a position to win all three games this fall and it hasn’t changed.
“It’s a challenging day, a development day for us and while it hurts, we will overcome this and come out the other side.”
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus:
“It was a tough game, it was 100mph at one stage, it was a one-score game for most of the afternoon before we got some breathing room.
“It’s competitive and we’re not happy with the performance, far from content but to get a result at Twickenham is still a fantastic achievement.
“I think the team we have now has played a lot of games together and been in a lot of tough situations like the one we faced here, so it definitely helps to have a good, experienced head.”
What’s next?
England will complete the Autumn Nations Series on November 24 when they face Japan at the Allianz Stadium (4.10pm), while South Africa face Wales at the Principality Stadium on November 23 (5.40pm).
