Springboks beat England to win series

The Springboks clinched the series with a 23-12 victory over England in the second Test at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Just by courtesy of winning this match, the Springboks jump from seventh in the world to third as they clinch the series 2-0 ahead of the dead rubber at Newlands next weekend.

In a repeat of the first Test match last weekend, the Boks found themselves a couple of tries down with just a quarter gone on the clock as they were again unable to cope with the pace and width at which England were playing.

But the Red Rose would score no further tries in the match as the Boks controlled the rest of the game, coming away with a deserved series win as Rassie Erasmus’ tenure gets off to a positive start ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

Mike Brown started the scoring, rounding off a move that went right to left and in which the Bok defence were found guilty of not shifting in defence.

The second came a couple of minutes later as Brown’s basketball-like pass over the top for Elliot Daly allowed the full-back to release Jonny May on the right-hand side overlap, the wing showing searing pace to outspring the Bok defence and step inside Aphiwe Dyantyi, who missed his tackle as cover defender, to dot down.  It came from first phase via a line-out on the left-hand touchline in a move that went left to right this time around.

But after a shaky beginning, the Boks managed to turn around the tie and cut the deficit to five when Duane Vermeulen crashed over on the 25-minute mark.  It was Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira on his 100th appearance who made the break, catching the English defence unawares by leaping over the base of the ruck and charging 40 metres downfield before being chopped down with the ball being recycled to Vermeulen, who carried three England defenders with him, showing tremendous strength to complete the score.

Soon after, Handre Pollard slotted a penalty between the poles after England were penalised for obstruction as Erasmus’ side were back in it, just two points adrift with 10 minutes to go.  By the time Roman Poite had blown his whistle for half-time, the Boks had managed to edge themselves in front at 13-12 with another Pollard three-pointer – this time a monster penalty from 60 metres out.

The Boks began the second-half by taking the game to England and extended their lead 10 minutes after the interval.  Springbok scrum-half Faf de Klerk’s box-kick was well chased by Dyantyi, before Siya Kolisi won the jackal turnover to earn a penalty for his side.  From the resulting penalty, the driving maul got Bongi Mbonambi a metre and half short before Steven Kitshoff was held up.

However, the Boks still had another bite at the cherry, with a put-in to the scrum five metres out, and South Africa delivered a major psychological blow, pushing the English pack all the way back before Poite ran under the posts to award the penalty try for a 20-12 lead to the home side.

Pollard, who was enjoying a good night with the boot, slotted his third penalty to give the Boks an 11-point buffer at 23-12 with 13 minutes to go.  It all came from Willie le Roux’s kick downfield which was brilliantly chased by Dyantyi, who along with replacement flank Jean-Luc du Preez got their hands on the ball to ensure the English were penalised for holding on.

Shortly afterwards, England’s hopes were dealt a major blow when replacement number eight Nathan Hughes was yellow carded for his deliberate knock-down of De Klerk’s attempted clearance from the bottom of a ruck.

The Boks would have little difficulty in holding on to their lead for the remaining 10 minutes to close out the 23-12 victory and take a 2-0 lead heading into the final Test in Cape Town next Saturday.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries:  Vermeulen, Penalty Try
Con:  Pollard
Pens:  Pollard 3

For England:
Tries:  Brown, May
Con:  Farrell
Yellow Card:  Hughes

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 S’busiso Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Jean-Luc du Preez, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Jesse Kriel, 23 Warrick Gelant

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Mike Brown, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Mark Wilson, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Denny Solomona

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)