South Africa produced a brutal yet clinical display to thump a plucky England side 58-10 at Bloemfontein on Saturday scoring seven tries in the process.
England, backed by many to fall to pieces from the start, held their own for the opening quarter but eventually succumbed to the power and pace of an impressive Springbok side.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with England competing for a long period before the flood gates opened to allow South Africa to score four quick fire tries.
The win, and the size thereof, has broken nearly every record in the book for South Africa v England encounters.
It was not a sweeping game of elan and panache. In many ways it was a drab match, the dullness of the foil setting off all the more the sparkle of the tries -- seven gems by South Africa, one excellent construction by England.
South Africa were expected to win which made the match almost no-win. Win big and you are playing against no-hopers. Win small, and you really are not much cop. Lose and you are flung down into the abyss of rugby degradation. But then Wales sounded a warning with their fine display against Australia. Could England go to Bloemfontein and do likewise?
They were not even close, this damaged team that limped into the Free State capital -- an injudicious team in the judicial capital of South Africa.
Bloemfontein complains that it seldom gets a Test. It got one but this one did not attract much of a crowd -- just 26 000 people into the ground. The interest was nothing like that for the Super 14 final last week.
The Springboks, too, did not really come to the party. They led 30-3 at half-time and then made wholesale changes, turning the match into a sort of controlled match practice. England were the first to score in the second half against a casual home side. That seemed to get the Springboks going a bit and they scored four tries in the last dozen minutes to make the score as big as it was.
So often we have seen the big England sides outmuscle their opponents. This time they were outmuscled. They were not strong enough or fast enough to deal with the Springboks. It must have been a sore afternoon for them. And the injuries to Iain Balshaw, Andy Hazell, Pat Sanderson and Jonny Wilkinson could have done nothing to reassure them as they head to Loftus Versfeld next weekend.
For the ageing debutants Matt Cairns, Roy Winters and Darren Crompton, the pride of at last making it for England must have been tempered.
It's not that England were not brave. They were. They just did not have muscle enough. There was one moment which epitomised their courage. Big Danie Rossouw went on the charge, straight at Wilkinson. The little flyhalf stood up the him, brought him down and in the process dispossessed him.
For the Springboks the return of Ashwin Willemse, who scored a try and made a magnificent break which should have led to a try, and action-man Schalk Burger must have been pleasing.
From the first line-out of the match, the Springboks went wide and they passed at every opportunity in the match. They scored their first points inside two minutes when Chris Jones infringed at a tackle-ruck and Percy Montgomery goaled on a still afternoon in Bloemfontein when he goaled ten out of ten.
Right at the start the Springboks thumped into tackles. When they had the ball they charged into the English. When the English had the ball the Springboks thumped into them. When they wanted to maul they drove it ahead, though not with quite the same cohesion that their Super 14 sides managed but obviously something that will come when they are together for more than just a few days.
When Andy Hazell was off-side Montgomery made it 6-0.
When the Springboks robbed England of their line-out ball, they went right, battering twice and then sending the ball wide with some splendid pressurised passing by Jean de Villiers and Willemse to send Willemse over on the right and round to the posts.. 13-0 after 23 minutes.
Mathew Tait broke brilliantly for England as he had done before, but then he lost his way and when Chris Jones tried a lobbed pass to his right the ball bounced near touch on the Springboks 22 where Bryan Habana gobbled it up and went racing down the left wing for a try far out. 20-0 after 27 minutes.
Burger was penalised at a tackle and from 48 metres out Wilkinson, who has missed earlier, goaled. 20-3.
Two of the scrums in the match gave trouble. At the second one Stuart Turner was penalised and Montgomery goaled.
England attacked and were at the Springbok 22 when the passing broke down. Rossouw bent down, flipped the ball back through his legs and the Springboks went on a bout of netball before De Villiers suddenly went skating ahead and down the middle of the field, beating two more defenders, to score under the crossbar. 30-3, which was the half-time score.
Substitutions started with the second half and a sloppy Springbok performance alleviated only by a great break by Willemse from within his 22 which should have led to a try.
James Simpson-Daniel came on when Balshaw fell awkwardly and did serious damage to his knee. The replacement had a good run down the left wing. Andy Gomarsall carried it on and England were close. South Africa were penalised in front of their posts not many metres from the goal-line. England opted for a scrum and went right from the scrum with sweet passing to create an overlap for Simpson-Daniel who scored in the corner. Wilkinson converted. 30-10 after 62 minutes.
At this stage the Springboks brought on Ruan Pienaar and -plonked him on the right wing with François Steyn moving in to inside centre.
Steyn made a break which Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger drove on to the England line where Burger was back to gather and score. 37-10 after 69 minutes. It was then that Wilkinson was injured in a clash of heads.
England kicked downfield a lot. Pienaar caught one inside his own half and went on the counter. He accelerated through on a dummy, drew one and then sent Steyn over. 44-10 after 73 minutes.
There was something so unexpected in the next try that it had an exquisite beauty all of its own.
Montgomery came into the line and got through a gap. He grubbered, knowing that speedster Habana was ion his left. Habana sped through defenders but Jason Robinson was across and diving for the ball. From behind Robinson Habana dived and with absolute concentration grabbed the ball and surfed over the line with it. 51-10 after 75 minutes.
Still it was not the end.
Butch James kicked a diagonal to the right wing where Pienaar caught it and made great ground. He was tackled but the Springboks recycled the ball till James dummied inside and gave CJ van der Linde a great pass on the outside for a try for the big prop. The whistle went after Montgomery's conversion.
Man of the Match: Schalk Burger who tackles more than anybody else, contests at the breakdown more than anybody else and who has improved greatly his linking, passing game.
Moment of the Match: Every one of the tries was special but none as special as Bryan Habana's second.
Villain of the Match: Whoever decided that these were the players to take the battering in England's cause.
The Scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: Willemse, Habana 2, De Villiers, Burger, Steyn, Van der Linde
Cons: Montgomery 7
Pens: Montgomery 3
For England:
Try: Simpson-Daniel
Con: Wilkinson
Pen: Wilkinson
The Teams:
South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Gary Botha, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Francois Steyn.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Jason Robinson (captain), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Stuart Turner, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Kevin Yates
Replacements: 16 Matt Cairns, 17 Darren Crompton, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Pat Sanderson, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Anthony Allen, 22 James Simpson-Daniel.
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
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