Bok bashers at last!
BEN YOUNGS last night warned that there is plenty more to come from England after they cruised to a first win over South Africa in a decade.
Youngs was outstanding as England picked up an 11th straight win, ten of which have come under Eddie Jones, with a 37-21 triumph at Twickenham.
The Leicester Tigers’ scrum half set up tries for George Ford and Owen Farrell, who scored 19 points, while Courtney Lawes and Jonny May also crossed the line.
But he admits England won’t be content until they overtake the All Blacks as No.1 in the world rankings.
“We haven’t beaten South Africa for ten years so we are delighted with that. South Africa are a huge rugby nation and to have beaten them will give this team another layer of confidence.”
THE giant green monster has finally been slain by a generation of England players which, until this emphatic victory, had failed to beat South Africa in a decade.
Even though the Springbok behemoth lacks the bite it once had, this was a landmark occasion not just for Courtney Lawes – with the Northampton lock celebrating his 50th cap by scoring his first Test try in the Twickenham rain – but for an England side which had lost a third of the starting line-up that secured the series victory in Australia.
In gaining a tenth successive win since Eddie Jones arrived as head coach, this match showed that England are building the strength-in-depth which is a pre-requisite for any side with the world champion ambitions they have.
Unfortunately, for South Africa the indications are that they are heading in the opposite direction. Even though they staged a belated rally when the match was lost, giving the scoreboard a modicum of respectability, there were long tracts of this match when they seemed adrift in the white breakers without a rudder.
The decision to go with a massive back five in an attempt to overpower England also backfired badly on South Africa’s likeable coach, Allister Coetzee, with Pieter-Steph du Toit, who is more of a lock than a flanker, exposed in defence. It is hard to imagine a flanker of Francois Louw’s pedigree buying two Ben Youngs dummies hook-lineand-sinker in the way Du Toit did, allowing the England scrum-half to split the South African line and set up match-winning secondhalf tries for George Ford and Owen Farrell.
However, the old maxim is that you can only play what is in front of you, and the way Youngs opened up the Springboks was classy, putting him marginally ahead of Billy Vunipola as England’s most influential operator. It was tough on Du Toit, who put in an unstinting shift, but he can take solace in the fact that he was by no means the worst South African forward on the pitch.
That England did not outscore the Springboks by any more than four tries to two, and rather than breaking free in the last 15 minutes were held in check, could be accounted for in part by a rustiness in their first autumn challenge.
However, the fact that Ireland hit the ground running last weekend against New Zealand will not have been lost on a driven task-master like Jones, and he made clear after the match that while he was delighted with the result he was “not satisfied” with the performance.
Part of that will be because although England dominated the middle section of the match, their start and finish were not too flash. Having conceded a handful of penalties in the first ten minutes they were soon trailing 6-0, with Pat Lambie kicking a penalty and knocking over a close range drop-goal after thrusts by Damian de Allende, Vincent Koch and Willem Alberts had laid the platform.
England put the shaky start behind them when they cut the Springbok backline defence to shreds with a precision move straight from a Lawes lineout take. As Billy Vunipola linked with Ford the South African defence was fixed by a diagonal dummy-run by Farrell, and, after the flyhalf passed to Marland Yarde, a second dummy run by Elliot Daly left them even more bamboozled, allowing Brown to burst into the line before feeding Jonny May.
May, making his first international appearance since the World Cup, showed he is fully recovered from injury as his raking stride carried him clear of Rudy Paige’s cover tackle for the opening try. With Farrell converting from the touchline England were 7-6 ahead.
The lead changed hands again when a Lambie penalty made it 9-7 to the visitors after England had fallen offside.
At one stage controlling the ball in the drenched conditions seemed beyond both sides, but gradually England began to impose themselves, with Billy Vunipola leading the charge. Just before the half hour he did so in destructive fashion, driving for the line after Daly and Youngs had made inroads into the Springbok 22.
The main obstacle in his path was Eben Etzebeth, the huge lock who has been dubbed South Africa’s new enforcer. This time Big Billy was the irresistible force which flattened the immoveable object, with Etzebeth bowled over by the full frontal assault. Referee Jerome Garces whistled immediately as Etzebeth was left prone, and the Springbok failed to return after going off for a head injury assessment.
When South Africa collapsed at the resulting five-metre scrum, Farrell kicked his first penalty to put England ahead again at 10-9, and five minutes before the interval they added their second try.
It started when South Africa failed to secure a Youngs box-kick from a lineout in England’s 22, and Ford and Daly combined before the outside-centre belted the ball deep into the opposing half. As Ruan Combrinck raced back and gathered, May’s tackle saw the ball squirt past Le Roux, and Mike Brown was there in a flash to toe-poke it on.
As the ball neared the line Brown and Lambie both dived for it, but missed, and Lawes followed-up to score as it crossed the line. When the TMO cleared Brown of a knock-on and Farrell added the extras, England led 17-9, and that margin was extended to 20-9 just before half-time when Daly slammed over a penalty from half-way.
Early in the second-half more spadework by Billy Vunipola was the preamble to Youngs suckering Du Toit before giving an inside
pass for Ford to race in. When Farrell converted and then added penalty England were cruising at 30-9 up with 50 minutes on the clock.
Then, with both coaches sending on replacements, England’s focus wavered. A break by Francois Venter paid dividends when his forward pass to Warren Whiteley saw Johan Goosen get on the end of the move to score. With the TMO failing to rule against Venter, the visitors were back in the running at 30-14 just before the hour.
However, England closed the account when Youngs picked off Du Toit again, and knifed through before passing to Farrell for a stroll-in try. With the home side 37-14 ahead there was no way back for South Africa, and Jones sent on Nathan Hughes, Kyle Sinckler and Ben Te’o for their first caps.
They bought energy, and England would have gone further ahead if Ford and Jonathan Joseph had not ignored overlaps outside them, but instead it was the Springboks who raised a late gallop for Le Roux to score.
England will have to be more ruthless if their unbeaten run is to continue, especially with Australia hoving into view hell-bent on revenge.
In the interim England will have time to sharpen-up their act against Fiji and Argentina – and they need to spend it well.