England ended their 10-year wait for a victory over South Africa with a 37-21 win at a rainswept Twickenham yesterday. They outscored the Springboks four tries to two as they made it 10 wins in as many Tests under Australian coach Eddie Jones.
The teams’ opening end of year international turned on an England burst either side of half-time that saw them score 23 unanswered points. Jonny May, Courtney Lawes, George Ford and Owen Farrell all crossed for tries, with Farrell kicking 17 points. South Africa, suffering a fifth defeat in six Tests, scored tries through replacement fly-half Johan Goosen and fullback Willie le Roux, but the latter’s came too late to change the result. Pat Lambie kicked a penalty and a drop-goal, with Ruan Combrinck converting le Roux’s 78th-minute try.
“We conceded six penalties in opening 20 minutes and that isn’t good enough,” England captain Dylan Hartley said. “But we’re very happy to get that monkey off our back and I’m very proud of our guys.”
Springbok captain and opposing hooker Adrian Strauss added: “It was a very tough game, they were tactically very good and we couldn’t deal with the high ball. We just couldn’t put any pressure on the England team and we felt it the whole game.”
England found themselves 6-0 behind early on after Lambie slotted a penalty and kicked a scruffy drop-goal. This was England’s first Test since they completed a 3-0 series win in Australia in June and it showed at the start.
Nevertheless, it was England who scored the game’s first try in the 10th minute. Ford’s chip over the top of the defence was well covered by le Roux but England had a close-range line-out. Man-of-the-match Joe Launchbury, reviving his World Cup second row partnership with Lawes in the absence of the injured Maro Itoje and George Kruis, won clean possession off the top.
The ball was worked back to fullback Mike Brown, who sent in May at the left corner as the injury-hit wing marked his first Test in over a year with try. Farrell converted and England led 7-6.
England’s ill discipline gave Lambie an easy penalty in front of the posts that put South Africa 9-7 up. Jerome Garces warned Hartley and the French referee’s words appeared to have some effect.
South Africa suffered a setback in the 33rd minute when giant lock Eben Etzebeth went off after a nasty clash of heads with England No 8 Billy Vunipola. “It was two big men clashing someone is going to come out the wrong way,” said Jones.
Etzebeth’s absence coincided with England scoring 13 points in seven minutes before the break.
South Africa prop Vincent Kock collapsed a scrum to give Farrell an easy penalty and, in the 36th minute, England had their second try.
Elliot Daly’s kick was hacked on by Brown, who failed to regather cleanly, and Lawes in his 50th Test, had a first England try when he slid over on the follow-up. Garces decided Brown had not knocked on and Farrell converted.
Then, with the last action of the half, outside centre Daly — making his first Test start — lived up to his reputation as a long-range kick specialist by landing a 51-metre penalty and England turned round 20-9 in front.
That became 27-9 just three minutes into the second half when scrum-half Ben Youngs’s dummy off the back of a ruck caught the Springbok defence cold before his inside pass sent in Ford for a try that Farrell converted.
Inside centre Farrell’s fifth successful goal-kick from as many attempts then stretched England’s lead to a comfortable 21 points. Goosen went over for a try, despite the suspicion of a forward pass. But this was a brief interruption to England’s dominance.
Before the match, Jones said he did not want England to play into the Springboks hands’ by engaging in a direct forward battle. His words got through to Youngs who, from a scrum on South Africa’s 22, sold another dummy, ‘bought’ by giant lock turned flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Youngs then sent in midfielder Farrell for an unopposed try. Le Roux’s late effort could not deny England their first win over the Springboks since 2006.