A tale of woe: England’s winless run against South Africa

ENGLAND face South Africa at Twickenham today seeking to end a winless run in the fixture spanning 10 years.

Since their last victory in 2006; England have beaten Australia eight times, Argentina six and New Zealand once. They have seen four coaches depart – Andy Robinson, Brian Ashton, Martin Johnson and Stuart Lancaster – and played in three World Cups.

Here is a look at the 11 South African victories and one draw during the period: England 14 South Africa 25, 25 November 2006, Twickenham A week earlier England had fought back to beat the Springboks 23-21 to extend their winning run against them to seven and seemingly save the skin of underpressure coach Andy Robinson. This time it was Jake White’s job that seemed to be on the line.

White was sweating when England led 14-3 after half-an-hour but SA fought back to lead at the break and dominated the second half, with Andre Pretorius landing four drop goals in all, in an echo of Jannie de Beer in SA’s 1999 World Cup quarter-final win over England.

Instead it was Robinson who was sacked and White stayed on – winning the World Cup a year later. South Africa 58 England 10, 26 May 2007, Bloemfontein An England side under Brian Ashton so short of frontline talent that it was closer to a third-string than second-, were blown away by their biggest margin of defeat at the hands of the seven-try Springboks. South Africa 55 England 22, 2 June 2007, Pretoria England’s shadow side performed impressively to edge to a 19-17 halftime lead but it proved a false dawn. Wing Bryan Habana grabbed two tries for the second-week running as England crumbled in the face of a second-half onslaught. South Africa 36 England 0, 14 September 2007, Rugby World Cup group stage, Paris Total humiliation for England – the defending world champions – who were disorganised and totally outplayed in every department in this pool-stage horror show. South Africa 15, England 6, 20 October 2007, Rugby World Cup final, Paris England had somehow turned things around with impressive knockout victories over Australia and hosts France.

Those wins gave them a cautious confidence and if Mark Cueto’s try had not been ruled out for his toe brushing the touchline, things might have been different.

SA, however, stuck with the plan that had seen them cruise through the tournament, kicking for territory and relying on their unbreachable defence, to win the World Cup for the second time. England 6 South Africa 42, 22 November 2008, Twickenham England’s worst-ever defeat at Twickenham, sandwiched by losses to Australia and New Zealand, gave new coach Martin Johnson a baptism of fire.

Current England captain Dylan Hartley came off the bench to win his third cap in the match but could do little to stem the tide as the Boks ran in five tries. England 11 South Africa 21, 27 November 2010, Twickenham After meeting seven times in two years, there had been a two-year gap before this game, but little seemed to have changed.

The Boks had finished last in the Tri-Nations and travelled to Twickenham having lost to Scotland, but they were again still too strong for the hosts who had high hopes having impressively beaten Australia.

SA dominated and Ben Foden’s late interception for England’s first try against them in four games flattered England on the scoreboard. South Africa 22, England 17, 9 June 2012, Durban The first of a three-match series between the countries was a closer affair as new coach Stuart Lancaster’s side showed promise, but not enough invention, in the first game of Heyneke Meyer’s reign. South Africa 36 England 27, 16 June 2012, Johannesburg In an action-packed Test, the Boks raced to a 25-10 halftime lead but, helped by two tries for scrumhalf Ben Youngs, England got back to within a score, only for JP Pietersen’s late try to seal the home win. South Africa 14 England 14, 23 June 2012, Port Elizabeth A tight game brought the only, relatively, bright spot in England’s 10-year tale of woe, ending a run of nine straight defeats in the fixture. England 15 South Africa 16, 24 November 2012, Twickenham England trailed 16-6 but fought back to 16-12. With time almost up captain Chris Robshaw instructed Owen Farrell to kick a penalty rather than go for touch. He landed it but there was insufficient time for England to launch another attack. “That was on me”, Robshaw said. – Reuters