England completed their November 2002 hat-trick by inflicting the biggest Test defeat in South Africa's history, as they pummelled the 14-man Springboks by a massive 53-3 margin at Twickenham, the controversial early sending-off of Jannes Labuschagne turning this ruthless massacre into a complete non-spectacle.
To detract from such a massive England win and an all-round superb performance on a day when they regained top spot in the Zurich World Rankings may seem harsh, but it was New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien's decision to show a red card to Lions lock Labuschagne for a late tackle on Jonny Wilkinson after only 23 minutes that took the shine off this resounding drubbing.
It was an unquestionably late hit on the Newcastle pivot, but with one of their most accomplished forwards banished from the field of play, the South African team simply imploded in an indisciplined and unaccomplished performance -- a fact which must surely ask questions as to the way forward for this once great rugby nation.
The English, for their part, were unbending in their attacking attitude to the game, Ben Cohen once again delivering a colossal performance on the wing with a first half try, while Harlequins centre Will Greenwood snatched vital tries each side of the break.
Late tries from back-row trio Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back and Richard Hill, as well as a penalty try, gave the scoreline a more emphatic look, while the departure through injury of Wilkinson was one of few down points for the rampant English.
In Wilkinson's absence, Matt Dawson, Andy Gomarsall and Tim Stimpson were all called upon to take conversions, all spectacularly nailing their efforts from the touchlines on a day when the home side could seemingly do no wrong.
The match however had a bizarre feel after the dismissal of Labuschagne, at times degenerating into a Sevens throwabout, which never really exploded, but always looked as if a 30-man brawl was about to come, with repeated late and high tackles from the Boks, especially from midfield duo Butch James and Robbie Fleck.
It was the Boks who started arguably the better, some shrewd lines of running from Werner Greeff and the occasional big hit in midfield keeping England on the back foot and struggling to get out of their own half, but it was ill-discipline that was to once again blight their play.
A foolish punch from hot-head centre Fleck on Cohen right in front of the eyes of referee O'Brien allowed Wilkinson to slot the first points of the day from under the posts, while Fleck did well to stay on the pitch when a yellow card could well have been dished out.
With the South Africans keen to at least get something for their efforts, missed drop-goal attempts from James and André Pretorius were all they had to show.
England's pack were gradually gaining ascendancy however, and it was from a scrum just inside their own half that they were to kickstart this match, Dawson breaking from the base on an angled run to feed Dallaglio down the right.
Dallaglio -- on for the injured Lewis Moody -- promptly played Phil Christophers in, with the Bristol flyer spotting Cohen's brilliantly-angled run for the Northampton man to continue his superb November campaign with another try to add to the two he scored against the Wallabies last week and his single effort against New Zealand the previous match.
With scrum-half Bolla Conradie off early with injury, Blue Bulls back-up Norman Jordaan was thrown in at the deep end, and just when the Boks thought it could not get any worse, came Labuschagne's red card.
While the lateness of the tackle was undebatable, whether or not the offence merited the straight red as opposed to a sin-binning was a major bone of contention, and with Pedrie Wannenburg having to shift to lock against a dominant England pack, any chance of parity upfront had been lost in one foul swoop.
While South Africa certainly did not lack effort, England turned the screw after that, Cohen having a try turned down by the video referee Jim Fleming, the Scot judging Cohen to have knocked on Wilkinson's crossfield punt under the attentions of Breyton Paulse in the left corner.
Only five minutes after however England chalked up their second try, Greenwood spinning through the tackle of Wessel Roux after a Dallaglio pick-up from the base of a close range scrum -- Wilkinson switching the direction of play to open the hole for Greenwood's run at the line.
There was a penalty apiece for Wilkinson and Pretorius before the break, with England going into the interval at 18-3.
Any impetus the Boks had hoped to gain from their teamtalk was wiped out only two minutes after the break when Greenwood again wriggled over the line for a try, a big right to left pass from Wilkinson creating the space for Greenwood to dummy and go from the 22, the attentions of the retreating Paulse not enough to prevent the silky Harlequin grounding the ball, although it took a video referee decision to rubber-stamp the call.
Wilkinson's swooping pass for that try proved to be his last act of the match however, as he went off injured for Austin Healey to come on, scrum-half Matt Dawson meanwhile nailing the conversion from way out on the left touchline.
England turned the screw upfront, and it was some superb desperattion defending in his own dead ball area from Wannenburg that prevented a fourth try as he defused a diagonal chip over the flat defensive line from Greenwood.
The injury-enforced departure of South Africa's Pretorius, and the substitution of hooker James Dalton for Adrian Jacobs and Lukas van Biljon respectively, as well as Andy Gomarsall coming on for Dawson in the England ranks, gave the game a disjointed feel, with long passages of open play.
Referee O'Brien again saw the spotlight fall on him when he saw fit to award England a penalty try after one such prolonged spell of open running, fullback Greeff delivering a shocking high hit on Christophers five metres out, although the presence of Joe van Niekerk perhaps suggested that a try would not have been scored. More bizarre was how Greeff escaped a yellow card for the challenge, but with Gomarsall in as the next successful makeshift kicker for England, the 32-3 lead had a decidedly hollow feel about it.
The onslaught kept on coming, and after an unpleasant elbow from skipper Corné Krige on Martin Johnson at a ruck near the South African line, it was Back who rumbled over from the resulting in lineout in a move that has served Welford Road so well down the years, Gomarsall converting magnificently from the left touchline.
His back-row mate Hill was next minutes later, brilliantly snatching a Healey crossfield kick in the right corner, replacement fullback Tim Stimpson the next successful England kicker as he converted from way out.
A pushover try from Dallaglio in injury-time ended this unceremonious massacre, the Springbok bodies flying out of the scrum as England showed their undoubted Twickenham prowess.
Whether or not they can live up to the expectations away from their home fortress and take the next step up remains the big question now, although the ramifications of this record defeat in South Africa could well be drastic.
Man of the match: Another masterful display of powerful wingplay from Ben Cohen sees him get our vote. Moved to the right to accomodate Phil Christophers in the side, he scored an early try, had one chalked-off for a knock-on and crucially looked for work instead of merely hugging the touchline. Other contenders for the victors include tighthead Phil Vickery, again colossal in the scrum, and No.8 Richard Hill, while contenders in green shirts were few and far between. Werner Greeff showed the odd flash of his potential from fullback early on, but the travel-sick Boks, other than a marginally better show of heart -- cannot take a great deal from this outing.
Moment of the match: Undoubtedly the sending-off of Jannes Labuschagne by New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien after only 23 minutes. With England only 8-0 up, and the Boks showing renewed spirit in the pack, his exit from the match effectively ended their hopes of victory against a rampaging England pack. The shoulder charge on Jonny Wilkinson after he had punted the ball was well late, of that there is no doubt. Had O'Brien opted for the yellow card rather than the red however, this match may at least have retained a competitive edge.
Villain of the match: While Labuschange may seem the obvious candidate, our vote goes jointly to Springbok centre duo Butch James and Robbie Fleck, whose late and high tackles, as well as general petulance, left a sour taste in the mouth. Fleck was a very lucky man not to be binned for a blatant punch on Ben Cohen, while James needs to urgently address his often-talked-about tackling style.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Deon Carstens, 2 James Dalton, 3 Wessel Roux, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 A.J. Venter, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Joe Van Niekerk, 9 Bolla Conradie, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Friedrich Lombard, 12 Butch James, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves: Adi Jacobs, Lukas Van Biljon, Norman Jordaan, Brent Russell, C.J. Van Der Linde
Unused: Pierre Uys, Marco Wentzel
England: 1 Jason Leonard, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Phil Christophers, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves: Lawrence Dallaglio, Andy Gomarsall, Danny Grewcock, Austin Healey, Tim Stimpson
Unused: Mark Regan, Robbie Morris
Attendance: 72000
Referee: O'brien p.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Pen K.: Pretorius A.S. 1
England
Tries: Cohen B.C. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Hill R.A. 1, Back N.A. 1, Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv: Wilkinson J.P. 1, Dawson M.J.S. 1, Gomarsall A.C.T. 2, Stimpson T.R.G. 2
Pen K.: Wilkinson J.P. 2
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