Springboks scramble to triumph over England

The South Africans had to absorb huge pressure from the Red Roses in a match where both sides had plenty of opportunities to seal the deal.

Despite poor discipline that yielded a yellow card late in the second half and numerous breakdown penalties, the Boks prevailed due to some world class players, most notably Cheslin Kolbe, who once again showed his deadly input into a rugby game with two brilliant tries.

England would look at their game management in the second half, when they had the Boks under pressure, as a reason why they came up short.

It was a match that was up for grabs for both teams, but in the end, the much-vaunted Bok bench and determination on defence kept England at bay. There was nothing wrong with the England effort, but they came up short against a side that learned the trick on how to win Tests even when you are not at your best.

The ability of Kolbe, as well as Handre Pollard and Malcolm Marx to inject their class into the game was also telling in the end.

The first half was a real “edge of the seat” affair. The home side scored first and well deservedly so after a strong start when Marcus Smith faked a drop goal, then switched play to the blind side which caught the SA defence system napping.

The ball was moved to Ollie Sleightholme with no one in front of him and the England wing finished in style. Smith slotted the conversion and the hosts were up 7-0 in no time.

The Springboks looked jittery in the early minutes, but their strong scrum supplied some comfort from that start as the slow poison was already being administrated.

The Boks bounced back in great style. Grant Williams scored from an aerial contest won by Kurt-Lee Arendse and in a blink after the recycle, the Springbok scrumhalf saw a gap and raced through with a stunning 40m effort. Libbok converted and the scores were even.

From the restart England applied good pressure resulting in a penalty for the home side, with the Springboks putting hands in a ruck that cost them three points, as Smith slotted his first penalty goal of the evening.

A minute later Smith turned villain though as he had two clearance kicks charged down, by Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, with the Bok flanker pouncing on the ball to score their try in the left corner. Libbok's conversion hit the post, but the Boks were 12-10 ahead.

The third try came from good pressure by the Springboks, who twice kicked to the corner after England conceded penalties at the ruck.

A dominant lineout had England's defence under pressure and Libbok found Kolbe with a trademark cross kick. The speedster stepped inside Freddie Steward to score and when Libbok converted, the Boks were up 19-10 after 22 minutes.

England came to play though and managed to put some solid phases together. Sam Underhill scored after one of those, with the flanker's delightful angle finding the pod defence of the Boks around the ruck area wanting. Smith converted to close the gap to 19-17 after 29 minutes of play.

Libbok missed a long-range effort just before the break and both sides went into the changing room knowing they are still in with a chance to win it.

The Boks, who had to replace Ox Nche just before the break with Gerhard Steenekamp, started the second half best when Arendse raced over in the corner following a good break by Aphelele Fassi, but the TMO ruled the pass from the Bok fullback went forward and the try was ruled out.

Marx and Pollard were roped into action 48 minutes in as Bok coach Rassie Erasmus looked for an injection of energy. Marx was into the wars immediately, being neck-rolled by Maro Itoje, which ruled out an England try scored by centre Henry Slade.

England took the lead 50 minutes in when Smith kicked a second penalty goal. After referee Andrew Brace pinged Jesse Kriel for lazy running in front of an England defender.

Pollard, who did well in fielding a couple of Smith bombs on defence, made his first points contribution when he kicked a penalty goal after 57 minutes to hand the lead back to the Bok, with his 48m effort bouncing off the cross bar much to the delight of all Bok supporters.

Those supporters had more to cheer soon after, when, in the blink of an eye, Kolbe scored his second – a delightful try. The Bok speedster was put into space following good bursts by Kwagga Smith and Damian de Allende, whose floating pass found Kolbe to score. Pollard converted and with just over 15 minutes to go.

The Bok error rate on the ground remained a speed bump on the road to victory though and one penalty too many conceded resulted in Gerhard Steenekamp being yellow carded 68 minutes in, opening a small window of opportunity for the home side to come back from two consecutive defeats at home.

They spurned a good opportunity near the Bok line with a mock throw and Boks could recover from the pressure and had two more chances, but thanks to some stellar ruck work by Vincent Koch, Marx and Smith, the Boks could secure the needed turn-overs to steer them clear and into yet another win for the number one ranked team in the world.

Scorers:

England 20 (17) – Tries: Ollie Sleightholme, Sam Underhill. Conversions: Marcus Smith (2). Penalty goals: Smith (2).

Springboks 29 (19) – Tries: Grant Williams, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe (2). Conversions: Manie Libbok (2), Handre Pollard. Penalty goal: Pollard.