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It was the rugby weekend’s biggest question: Could the England fight club defuse the Springboks bomb squad? The hosts were the team that had gone for the six/two forwards/backs bench split in contrast to the South Africans, who had modelled this configuration to great success at the 2019 World Cup before largely limiting themselves to five sub forwards for the majority of the Jacques Nienaber era.
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How the bash-bash would unfold was a conundrum bursting with anticipation and what followed was a tremendous denouement for the Autumn Nations Series, an epic contest playing out right to the final whistle which eventually sounded to leave England exhausted but marvellous victors on a 27-26 scoreline despite an excruciating 18-8 penalty count going against them in favour of the Springboks.
You sensed it would be epic for the moment you stepped out at Twickenham rail station on a cold, grey morning. With the Whitton Road teeming with fans from as early as three-and-a-half hours before kick-off, the loudspeaker sales pitch of one stall-holder selling something other boerewors and burgers perfectly captured the backdrop to this blockbuster occasion: “Get you official reflink to hear everything the referee has to say,” he boomed. “Rassie just bought one. He is in the pub down the road.”
The spectacular banning of Erasmus from all rugby for two months and from matchdays until the end of next September ignited the heated narrative to a heavyweight November series finale where the fire was only added to by England implying that the South Africans reckoned their scrum was weak.
Eddie Jones had a blast over this at his team announcement briefing on Thursday and that spray was further fuelled by his assistant Richard Cockerill on the eve of the match. The evidence that the Springboks has been talking so disparagingly wasn’t obvious, the consensus instead being that this was a hot air ploy motivationally designed to gee up an England pack containing five of the same starters from the World Cup final, two rookie front-rowers in Bevan Rodd and Jamie Blamire and the still-apprentice-serving Jonny Hill at lock.
"The last time we played South Africa I was in the student bar I think"
A very different #ENGvRSA to remember for @freddiesteward_ this time round as he collects the Player of the Match award 🏅#AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/g0MXFQDgFD
— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 20, 2021
Eventually, when all the pop music on the stadium PA tired itself out, when the beery crowd of 81,623 packed into the gallery and when the multitude of warm-up tackle bags were stored away we finally started getting some answers as to who would ultimately bag the meaty bragging rights and swagger away into the shivery November evening giddy with the sort of warmth that only a seismic Test match win can generate.
England will now lap up that feeling for weeks and months to come. They galloped clear early doors and led for 57 minutes before the Springboks hunted them down, but they then inspiringly went toe to toe in a compelling finish that featured yellow cards, tries for each team and niggly incidents galore.
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In the end, the relief was that referee Andrew Brace wasn’t left as the villain of the piece, England squeezing out every last drop to edge a marvellous advertisement for cross-hemisphere Test rugby.
The partisan crowd milked the three-tries-to-one success that could have tipped against them had Handre Pollard not suffered a dose of the yips early in the second half, kicking wide two penalties that looked well within his range following a first-half where he was perfect off the tee with his four-out-of-four return keeping the Springboks alive after a nightmare opening.
England dominated them at the start, scoring punch-the-air tries through Manu Tuilagi and Freddie Steward, making hay at the scrum and generally looking like they would add to their 17-6 advantage 24 minutes in.
Test rugby, though, can be a strange beast with its momentum shifts and with referee Brace frequently applying his beady eye to Jones’ players, the situation unfolded whereby the Springboks kicked their way back into contention and they eventually took a 64th-minute lead that would have arrived sooner had Pollard not been errant along with a missed Frans Steyn drop goal.
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Their bomb squad had wrested firm control. Their entire front row was changed in the 44th-minute and with their scrum and maul dominating, only two try-saving Max Malins interventions kept England’s line intact.
Guts were central to how they survived, a dogged determination not to allow the Springboks pack and the constant referee’s whistle to terminally wound them. This resilience was then visible in another guise, the sweeping moment featuring Henry Slade’s brilliance that resulted in Raffi Quirke scoring less than a minute after South Africa had first hit the front.
ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS : What a day for the nine-rated Freddie Steward and some of his teammates#England #ENGvRSA #AutumnNationsSeries #Springboks https://t.co/MhJTcZkBXF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 20, 2021
Even then England couldn’t breathe easy. Replacement Will Stuart was carded, allowing the Springboks to score eight points – including an unconverted Makazole Mapimpi try – in his absence to lead 26-24 with eight minutes left. Jones, though, has been adamant he is moulding a ‘New England’ ahead of the 2023 World Cup and the fantastic way they pulled off this heist with the clock against them will only accelerate their growth immeasurably.
It was fitting that surprise pick Joe Marchant had a pivotal role to play, rising high in the incident that restored numerical equality with Siya Kolisi carded and while England went on to fluff a pair of lineouts with Stuart back in the mix and England now a man up, they still had the pluck and the guile to win it with a penalty that was an apt reward for some selfless Smith bravery in going in where it hurt.
The only pity was that the banned Erasmus wasn’t there to see it happen live. His face would surely have been a picture that would have told a thousand stories. A thousand stories about the day that the embryonic England fight club defused the famed Springboks bomb squad.
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
1 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to comments