England and South Africa look to address the same weakness in Twickenham showdown
England and South Africa will bring their autumn Test series to a close at Twickenham looking to banish inconsistency and hit form for a full 80 minutes.
One intrigue at Twickenham will be discovering which England shows up against South Africa.
The England that threw caution to the wind and torched New Zealand by 19 points in seven minutes to force a draw?
Or the England that had the All Blacks on a plate, a man advantage and possession and kicked the ball out to settle for a draw?
England closed ranks in support of game-ender Marcus Smith but the five-eighth had his detractors home and away and was booed by some in the crowd last weekend.
But it is not in England’s DNA to gamble, or think on their feet. Which made coach Eddie Jones’ praise of Smith for finally showing his aggressive nature a touch ironic.
Smith has too infrequently brought the magic he creates for club-side Harlequins to the international stage.
Some believe he is stifled from having to slot between captain Owen Farrell and halfback Ben Youngs, two of England’s only three centurions.
It seemed Smith was emboldened at the end last Saturday by Farrell carrying a leg injury and Youngs, fresh off the bench, playing quick ruck ball like in the old days.
A perfect storm developed. New Zealand reached 25-6 with 10 minutes left and began thinking of a pleasant flight home. Then fullback Beauden Barrett was sin-binned, Smith launched England’s do-or-die charge, and the crowd found its voice.
But a brilliant finish should not shade how badly England were disarmed by the All Blacks for 70 minutes – the pack was outmuscled and outsmarted, and promising halfback Jack van Poortvliet was exposed.
“We have an incredible amount of potential in this team, we just need to unlock it,” forward Maro Itoje said.
“We are becoming more cohesive, so hopefully it will come. I’m proud that we played some great rugby towards the end of that (New Zealand) game, but we need to play like that for the whole game.”
Playing well for a full 80 minutes is also a goal for South Africa, who travel to Twickenham on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
The Springboks’ development suffered after the Rugby World Cup was won in 2019 when the entire 2020 season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Boks have been evolving, trying to find or create space to run the ball.
They were second in the Rugby Championship by one point, and gave a rousing – if losing – performance against Six Nations champions France, when they dominated for long periods even with 14 men.
Similarly, they have had the upper hand on England for large chunks of their last two contests at Twickenham, but lost both by one point, in 2018 and 2021.
The Boks have not won there against England in eight years.
“I am not sure why winning at Twickenham has been so hard,” centre Damian de Allende said.
“What I do know is that we just haven’t been consistent enough through the entire 80 minutes.
“But we have learned from that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
A distinct discomfort with the officiating they were probably selected from the local IRA narcos branch along with the commentators bloody fly tippers.
1 Go to commentsWow, never thought I would read that
1 Go to commentsExcellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.
1 Go to comments“We need eight or nine new players, who are hard-wearing and durable and experienced Premiership performers”. So why are they scouting a retired fullback who himself admits that his “body is broken”?
1 Go to commentsBrumbies hand, knocked a Crusaders hand. Therefore, knock on in goal. Crusaders, goal line drop out should’ve been awarded. most likely after that 24 each at full time, so extra time would’ve been the right an entertaining outcome. Act Jim
1 Go to commentsSpeell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to comments