England 27 South Africa 22

A rock-solid England inspired by a near-faultless Jonny Wilkinson at fly-half dominated South Africa 27-22 at the Free State Stadium to square the two-Test series 1-1.

A last-ditch effort sparked by a controversial Joost van der Westhuizen try could not see South Africa through a heroic England defence in the dying minutes, as the Springboks were left to rue their many infringements punished by penalties.

Twenty-one-year-old England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson was sublime, scoring all 27 his team's points, with a breathtaking kicking display that included eight penalties and a drop-goal.

Wilkinson who missed out on last week's Test, won 18-13 by the Springboks hardly put a foot wrong during the match, marshalling his backs brilliantly.

The Springboks, however, will have to go back to the drawing board.  Their first-phase possession was woefully inadequate, with referee Stuart Dickenson of Australia warning the South Africans on numerous occasions for infringements on the deck.

The Boks, however, hardly heeded his calls and their indiscipline cost them dearly.  England employed a rock-solid defensive pattern, giving the Springboks very little chance of crossing the line.

The 37,000 strong crowd who braved a chilly Free State evening showed their disapproval of the Boks' display.  The Springboks scored their points through flyhalf Braam van Straaten, who slotted four penalties in the first-half, with Percy Montgomery adding a penalty and a conversion in the second half.

Up until the 80th minute, the Springboks were trailing the tourists 15-27, but former skipper Van der Westhuizen scored a controversial try after the television referee Andre Watson ruled that the scrumhalf had grounded the ball from a ruck on the England line.

Van der Westhuizen's try seemed to put the spark back in the Springboks, who attacked ferociously, but were let down by handling errors and their inability to breach the England defence.

The match was by no means a classic, but was characterised by tough battles among the forwards, with scythe-like defence from both sides.

The win sees England registering their third-only win on South African soil, and very fitting that they should beat the Springboks in Bloemfontein, known as South Africa's City of Roses.

The two-Test series, like the one in 1994, is shared 1-1.

The Teams:

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Julian White, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Simon Shaw, Joe Worsley, David Flatman, Leon Lloyd
Unused:  Will Greenwood, Mark Regan, Tim Stimpson

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 Charl Marais, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Krynauw Otto, 6 Corne Krige, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Percy Montgomery
Reserves:  Ollie Le Roux, Chester Williams
Unused:  John Smit, Warren Brosnihan, Japie Mulder, Werner Swanepoel, Albert Van Den Bergh

Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

England
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 8
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

South Africa
Tries:  Van Der Westhuizen J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 1
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 1, Van Straaten A.J.J. 4