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How did England blow a 21-point lead over South Africa? Faf De Klerk and Willie Le Roux, that's how

By Ben Smith
England must find a way to stop Faf De Klerk and Willie Le Roux.

It was the worst possible start to new head coach Rassie Erasmus’s Springbok coaching career. An England blitz in the first 20 minutes had the visitors up 24-3, stunning the crowd of 50,000-odd raucous South Africans.

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This was an English side unlike any seen in the last two years under Eddie Jones, showing an unpredictability that had the Springboks flustered and confused.

They opened the scoring when Elliot Daly slotted a 60m penalty a little over one minute into the game. From the next kickoff they went wide from their own 22 and scored two phases later through Mike Brown in the corner. One minute being conservative, the next being hyper-aggressive. 10 points in three minutes had the Boks shell-shocked.

The ambush didn’t stop there, with two more tries built from slow forward play before the backs injected with wide attacking passing targeting the inexperienced wingers. The Bok bloodshed was on and England had a 24-3 lead that no one predicted.

It took two of South Africa’s overseas Premiership stars to lift them back from the precipice. Halfback Faf De Klerk and fullback Willie Le Roux were instrumental in constructing a 20-minute flurry of tries.

De Klerk got the first, sniping from close range after Le Roux freed Sbusiso Nkosi down the right edge. He lured English lock Maro Itoje off his line and ducked under his hesitant tackle to score. Not long after, De Klerk had a hand in Nkosi’s first try, raiding a short side and offloading in the tackle to create the overlap. An Elliot Daly blunder in goal handed South Africa their second try.

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Willie Le Roux proved he is arguably the world’s best playmaking fullback with a complete maestro performance. Israel Folau may be the premier aerial specialist and a powerful runner but no one has the deft touch and supreme passing skills Le Roux possesses. Like a surgeon, he sliced England up on the edges with expert draw-and-pass decisions. Nkosi’s 11 touches for 106 running metres and five line breaks is in part a direct result of Le Roux’s play.

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He crafted South Africa’s third try with some smart work down the left-hand side before scoring one himself from a lineout play on the stroke of halftime. In just 20 minutes the Springboks had erased a 21-point deficit to take a previously unfathomable 29-27 lead into the sheds.

England had no answers for South Africa’s frantic ‘red zone’ attack. Whenever they entered the opposition 22 they became expansive, playing with speed and width. De Klerk like an Energizer bunny kept the tempo high, while Le Roux on the edge made the kill shot.

South Africa’s dominance continued the quarter after halftime, as England could not get out of their own half. The weight of pressure led to a couple of Pollard penalty attempts to increase their lead.

Nothing exemplified Faf De Klerk’s influence in this game more than a 60-second passage in the 62nd minute with the game in the balance at 32-27. England had finally resorted back to keeping ball in hand and stormed down the field through wide movement.

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De Klerk chopped the much bigger Chris Robshaw with a textbook grass cutter tackle before getting straight to his feet and pressuring Henry Slade at halfback on the next phase just seconds later. He dislodged the ball and forced a knock-on, winning back possession. From the scrum, the Boks looked to clear. He had little protection on the backside of the ruck with pressure coming. Digging deep for the ball, he managed to uncover it before scrambling backward and hoisting a pinpoint box kick.

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The kick landed perfectly for debutante Aphiwe Dyantyi to smash Elliot Daly right against the touchline and De Klerk baited Mako Vunipola into a late shot which he received a yellow card for. Reduced to 14 men, England crumbled as South Africa scored the decisive try moments later with De Klerk running the show in the lead-up.

Eddie Jones’ wishes of a 3-0 bounce-back tour went up in smoke as their fifth consecutive loss heaped even more pressure on his side. They showed a much-improved attack but will rue ill-discipline that let the Springboks back into the game.

The worry is now the sieve-like defence that leaked 42 points against a quality attacking Southern Hemisphere side. England has relied on defence to win games in the absence of any attacking clout during the Jones era. They need to find an answer quickly to De Klerk and Le Roux or they could find themselves on the end of a 3-0 ‘Bokwash’ in the Republic.

If that happens, heaven-forbid, Jones will need a decent shield as the knives come out.

In other news:

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Trevor 58 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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