Marcus boots England to victory over Springboks
ENGLAND 27 SOUTH AFRICA 26
Marcus Smith kept his nerve to land a last-gasp penalty as England avenged their 2019 World Cup final defeat by toppling South Africa 27-26 in an enthralling climax to the autumn.
Smith kicked the decisive points with just over a minute left to prevent the Springboks from completing a comeback victory on an afternoon of high drama at Twickenham.
Eddie Jones’ men overcame the early loss of Manu Tuilagi, who was injured while in the act of scoring the opening try, to build a 17-6 lead with the outstanding Freddie Steward also crossing.
South Africa showed resilience in the face of the storm, doggedly defending their line and relying on Handre Pollard’s boot, knowing they had won their last three games despite trailing at half-time.
At times England looked willing victims as they gave away penalty after penalty and, with their lead eroded by Pollard, they seemed increasingly powerless to stop the momentum shift.
For much of the second half they were entrenched inside their 22, fighting hard for every yard and Pollard eventually kicked the Springboks ahead in the 64th minute.
Defences had reigned but in the space of four minutes they were momentarily shredded as Raffi Quirke and Makazole Mapimpi exchanged slick tries to usher in a nerve-shredding final 10 minutes.
Francois Steyn booted a penalty but South Africa saw captain Siya Kolisi sent to the sin-bin for the last five minutes and England pounced through 22-year-old fly-half Smith when the Springboks were penalised for going off their feet.
England head coach Eddie Jones hailed a crucial “rebirth” after toppling the world champions.
Asked if this autumn series represented a new England era, Jones replied: “Yes, we said in the summer that the Lions tour draws a line in the sand, and that you need to regenerate and have a little bit of a rebirth to go to the World Cup.
“There’s some good players coming through but we’ve got some pretty good experienced players, too.
“They feel comfortable within themselves, they want to be together, they want to work together.
“Our stated aim is to win the World Cup, so we want to be better in the next campaign.”
Smith’s poise among the chaos of South Africa’s brutal defensive onslaught points to a playmaker quickly en route to the game’s very summit.
Jones insisted Smith still remained a “work in progress” however, despite the 22-year-old starring in the absence of injured regular captain Owen Farrell.
“Well, he’s a work in progress, and each game he’s going to get a little bit better,” said Jones, of
Smith. “I thought he did a great job today, but he’s going to be better in the Six Nations.
“I know he will be because he’s got a great desire to keep learning and to keep on getting better.”
Asked if Smith will be England’s starting fly-half in future, Jones continued: “You can’t make those predictions as we’ve seen.
“We had a captain and a vicecaptain that we don’t have any more because they are injured or out with Covid.
“Marcus, as long as he keeps improving, he’s going to have a good role in this team.”