It was a case of mission accomplished for South Africa as the world champions ended their end-of-year tour undefeated after posting an emphatic 42-6 victory over hosts England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Never before have the touring Springboks recorded a winning margin as big as this in London, as the visitors ran in five tries to nil, keeping the home side scoreless in the second half.
Likewise, never before have the English conceded a losing margin as big as this in their own back yard. Fly-half Danny Cipriani's two penalties were their only reward for a humiliating day at the office.
It was billed as England's chance for revenge on the South African side that beat them in the World Cup final, but just as in Paris last year the outcome was the same.
For England manager Martin Johnson, who now has two defeats from his three matches in charge, the most disappointing aspect may not only be the comprehensive defeat but also how easily the South Africans achieved it.
The Springboks, who had already beaten Wales and Scotland, made pre-match suggestions that they were too tired look laughable with a performance of classy opportunism in attack and dogged determination in defence.
South Africa had previously stuttered to victories over Wales and Scotland before this match, and coach Peter de Villiers claimed during the week his side were mentally fatigued and struggling for motivation.
It proved to be the smokescreen many expected, as South Africa produced a ruthless attacking performance.
Tries by Danie Rossouw, Ruan Pienaar, Adrian Jacobs, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana followed up by assured goal-kicking by Pienaar after the break, completed a hugely satisfying European tour with South Africa's sixth win in a row against England.
On a day that marked the fifth anniversary of England's 2003 World Cup triumph, the home side were given a stark reminder of how far they have fallen since their glorious night in Sydney and the heady days of seven successive wins over the Springboks.
Disorganised was one word for England's contribution to vast swathes of this repeat of last year's World Cup final. Shambolic perhaps summed it up better. England were out-passed, out-kicked, out-thought and out-manoeuvred.
South Africa broke the England gain line swiftly and easily. Even when prop Tendai Mtawarira and then full-back Conrad Jantjes were sin-binned for cynical infringements, England could not find a way through the green and gold jerseys.
England did manage to disrupt South Africa at the set pieces with the absence of Andrew Sheridan detracting very little from the home effort at scrum time. They stole a few off the Springbok throw at the line-out, and managed several turnovers on the deck. But the difference between England and South Africa was the hosts could produce little when presented with a scoring chance.
England opened brightly enough, Cipriani drilling over an early penalty when South Africa impeded off the game's first movement. Pienaar equalised after six minutes, but the Springboks battled to get their hands on the ball.
An unforced error by England skipper Steve Borthwick forced a five-metre scrum for the visitors which then resulted in the game's first try. Rossouw bashed his way past several would-be tacklers from close range to give his team the lead, an advantage Pienaar extended with his accurate boot.
Just minutes earlier, it was South Africa defending their chalkdust from an England put-in from five metres out, but John Smit and his men dug their boots in deep to ward off any English threat.
Pienaar was on hand -- literally -- to post more points on the board for the tourists, snatching South Africa's second try after 18 minutes when he collected and scored a charged-down Cipiani clearance.
It was the third time in six Tests Cipriani has conceded a try from a charge-down. The same happened against Italy in the Six Nations and the Pacific Islanders a fortnight ago. Needless to say, it was another poor showing by the celebrity pivot, who kicked poorly and failed to generate any penetration on the part of the hosts.
The Springboks protected their 17-3 lead gallantly when Danny Care's quick-tap penalty unleashed Delon Armitage down the right-hand touchline, only for lock Bakkies Botha to steam across and make the try-saving tackle.
Pienaar's second penalty followed shortly afterwards and although Cipriani replied ten minutes before the interval, England could not make any more progress despite South Africa losing their "Beast" to the sin-bin for impeding at the ruck after 29 minutes.
The magic moment that broke the back of England arrived in the 51st minute with Adrian Jacobs jetting in for a spectacular try. A solid line-out laid the platform for Pienaar to run, and a great back-line move saw the space opening up for winger JP Pietersen in midfield.
Jacobs ran a great supporting line and stepped the last man for a climatic finish. It was the kind of move South African supporters have been waiting for all year, as it was born from structure and finished by flair.
Pienaar's conversion left England 27-6 down with nearly half-an-hour remaining and a further penalty thirteen minutes later put the visitors out of sight.
South Africa then lost full-back Jantjes to another yellow card for blocking Armitage as he chased his own chip ahead, but the English still couldn't find a way through against some determined defending with Botha once again outstanding.
The Springboks added two late tries through a length of the field finish by replacement centre Jaque Fourie, followed by a patient build-up that ended with the out-of-sorts Habana hammering the final nail in England's coffin.
Man of the match: Not many contenders from the English camp, so we'll move swiftly along to the conquerers of Twickenham. Once again, flanker Schalk Burger was superb in the loose, lock Victor Matfield assured his presence was felt all over the park, while Pienaar orchestrated matters quite delightfully at fly-half. Adrian Jacobs capped a fine year with another flawless -- if not spectacular -- display, particularly on defence. But after much consideration, our vote goes to Bakkie Botha, the giant in a Test that suited his in-your-face style of play. Botha's tackling and ruck cleaning ensured some England players won't get out of bed easily on Sunday morning. And let's not forget his two try-saving tackles that, had he missed, may have given the England scoreline a bit more respect.
Moment of the match: All of South Africa's tries had their own appeal, but for us, a counter-attack-ending try from a side's own line, albeit through a hack ahead, takes the cake. Jaque Fourie's 90-metre sprint emphasised the Springboks' determination to end this tour on the highest note possible.
Villain of the match: Two yellow cards, both in the direction of South Africa's ill-discipline at the breakdown and in defence. Whilst Mtawarira was on the receiving end of mutiple warnings to the Bok forwards, Conrad Jantjes' shoulder charge (if you could call it that) on Delon Armitage could have -- and should have -- been avoided.
The scorers:
For England:
Pens: Cipriani 2
For South Africa:
Tries: Rossouw, Pienaar, Jacobs, Fourie, Habana
Cons: Pienaar 3, Steyn
Pens: Pienaar 3
Yellow cards: Mtawarira (South Africa, diving in the ruck), Jantjes (South Africa, blocking)
England: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 James Haskell, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 Toby Flood.
South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Beast Mtawarira,
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Brian Mujati/CJ van der Linde, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Heinrich Brussow, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Jaque Fourie.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Alan Rolland (Ireland), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official: Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
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