England remained on course for a World Cup quarter-final clash against Six Nations rivals Wales after defeating South Africa by 25-6 in Perth, centre Will Greenwood scoring the only try of a closely-fought battle.
For the first half of this encounter it was just like old times, as a much-hyped England team failed to perform on the big occasion, their performance totally at odds with their exalted position at the top of the Zurich World Rankings.
For Perth, read Lansdowne Road in 2001, Murrayfield in 2000, as the "must-win" match which was supposed to speed England on their way to the Final went awry in the face of limited, but highly-motivated opposition.
Much of this game was eerily reminiscent of the RWC 1999 quarter-final clash between these two proud rugby nations, as the South African forwards put immense pressure on their counterparts, rattling them to their very core. If only the Springboks had a kicker of the calibre of Jannie de Beer in their ranks, they could have caused the biggest upset of this World Cup to date.
As it was, South Africa will rue the poor kicking form of fly-half Louis Koen, the No.10 missing with three penalty attempts in the first half to let England off the hook despite an alarmingly long catalogue of schoolboy errors and careless play.
As so often before, it was the boot of England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson which really made the difference between the two sides, the Newcastle Falcon as faultless as ever with his shots at goal, including two drop-goals in the second half.
It is hard to overstate how much England missed the authority of Richard Hill in the back row. His replacement, Lewis Moody, is a fine player, but is not in the same league as the doughty Saracen when it comes to the trench warfare of a closely-fought RWC encounter.
Moody's natural over-exuberance got the better of him on several occasions in the first half, as England struggled to come to terms with a Springbok pack who fought tooth and nail at the breakdown, the flanker finding himself stripped of the ball after the tackle on three separate occasions by his opponents and giving away at least two avoidable penalties.
Admittedly, Moody finished the match in credit, having charged down the attempted clearance kick by Koen to set up a try for team-mate Will Greenwood in the 62nd minute. That was the crucial score of the entire match and having made that break-through, the pressure seemed to lift off the English players as they sensed the shift in power.
But still, coach Clive Woodward will be instructing his medical staff to pull out all the stops to get Hill back in action for the latter stages of the tournament in the hope that he will help to eradicate the messiness at the breakdown which so afflicted them on this outing.
South Africa had clearly come to the Subiaco Oval in the hope of putting major pressure on the England halfbacks and this tactic appeared to be reaping dividends in the opening exchanges, some early clearance kicks going awry to allow the Springboks to press deep into English territory.
While England took the lead as early as the fourth minute after South Africa had held onto the ball fractionally too long after a tackle, Jonny Wilkinson kicking the ensuing penalty, the Men in White were made to work hard for every inch of territory and every scrap of territory.
When they did escape the Green and Gold strait-jacket and shifted the ball wide, England made some telling breaks through the likes of Jason Robinson and Ben Cohen -- the latter nearly creating a first-half score for Mike Tindall in the 11th minute.
But South Africa, with their muscular forwards leading the way, held their defensive line and were rewarded for their industry some moments later when Koen was able to get them off the mark with a penalty to draw level.
With the sides matching each other step-for-step and tackle-for-tackle, England forced another penalty and took the lead through the boot of Wilkinson.
Koen missed a chance to equalise in the 31st minute following a late tackle by Moody, the ball bouncing off the woodwork to allow England hooker Steve Thompson to drive up field and relieve the pressure on his side, but the Springbok fly-half did compose himself for a second successful penalty kick in that first half.
No doubt given a rousing half-time team talk by skipper Martin Johnson and coach Clive Woodward, England were in a much more determined state of mind after the break, immediately going on the offensive and settling into their all-action, high-tempo attacking game.
The South African's found themselves desperately trying to nullify England's enterprise in the backs, Robinson, Cohen and co. looking increasingly dangerous as the match went on.
This endeavour helped England to rack up 19 unanswered points in a far more satisfactory second half and reassert their status as near-favourites to hoist the Webb Ellis Trophy on November 22.
For the losers, things are not as bleak as it may seem, with South Africa's first-half performance giving them genuine hope of proceeding past the last eight, despite the fact that they have a likely winner-takes-all appointment with the All Blacks in Melbourne on November 8.
Man of the match: Not a particularly entertaining encounter, but a few players did manage to stand head and shoulders above their peers. For South Africa, the back row trio of Juan Smith, Joe van Niekerk and Corné Krige were exceptional, particularly in broken play where they tested England's defence to the full. But for the Man of the match it is impossible to overlook England No.10 Jonny Wilkinson who, despite looking somewhat below his best in the opening exchanges, still managed to exude grace under pressure in the goal-kicking stakes to seal the victory for his country.
Moment of the match: The highlights were few and far between, with the intensity of the occasion seemingly getting to both sets of players and created a high error-count. Will Greenwood's try was not a classically crafted effort, created by a charge-down so we'll go for the flowing South African move which nearly resulted in a first-half try for lock Bakkies Botha.
Villain of the match: The predicted blood-bath did not materialise, with these warriors generally staying within the laws of the game -- quite a novelty for England v South Africa clashes. But the citing commissioner could well be concerned by the apparent punch landed on Springbok left-wing Thinus Delport by England No.8 Lawrence Dallaglio in a second-half ruck. The experienced back rower should be above such petulance -- particularly at such an early stage of a World Cup -- and therefore gets our vote for this dubious award.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Richard Bands, 2 Danie Coetzee, 3 Christo Bezuidenhout, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Bakkies Botha, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Juan Smith, 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Louis Koen, 11 Ashwin Willemse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Jorrie Muller, 14 Thinus Delport, 15 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen
Reserves: Derick Hougaard, Werner Greeff, John Smit, Lawrence Sephaka
Unused: Neil De Kock, Selborne Boome, Danie Rossouw
England: 1 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Trevor Woodman, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Jason Robinson, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Josh Lewsey
Reserves: Jason Leonard, Dan Luger, Joe Worsley
Unused: Martin Corry, Andy Gomarsall, Paul Grayson, Dorian West
Attendance: 28834
Referee: Marshall p.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Pen K.: Koen L.J. 2
England
Tries: Greenwood W.J.H. 1
Conv: Wilkinson J.P. 1
Pen K.: Wilkinson J.P. 4
Drop G.: Wilkinson J.P. 2
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