ENGLAND IN FREEFALL
Six defeats in a row and counting, clubs angered by injuries, another lead wasted, Jones’ aura gone . . .
DEJA VU and despair for England. For the second successive weekend, they threw away a commanding lead. For the sixth successive game, they were beaten. The series is gone and their season lies in ruins.
The second Test unfolded much like the first: a superb start by Eddie Jones’s side counting for nothing as the error count and the penalty count mounted rapidly. Just as at Ellis Park the previous Saturday, there were flashes of mesmerising brilliance in attack. Just as at Ellis Park, there were missed tackles, ruck problems and a lack of composure.
There were bursts of petulance, too. As the contest ebbed away from England, captain Owen Farrell became heated in his exchanges with referee Romain Poite. At one point, he had to be forcibly moved away by Maro Itoje as he complained incessantly.
Later, Mako Vunipola was lucky to avoid a yellow card after slapping Pieter-Steph du Toit when the flanker was on the ground at a ruck. And shortly after the final whistle, Ben Youngs walked off abruptly while being interviewed by Sky Sports, drawing instant and widespread condemnation on social media.
Four months after optimistic talk of a ‘three-peat’ — a third consecutive Six Nations title — England are in freefall. On Monday, they could drop as low as sixth in the World Rugby rankings, from a high of second under Jones. Having finished fifth in the annual championship, they will go to Cape Town for the last Test of this shattering tour facing the threat of a 3-0 whitewash.
This l atest grim result will increase the pressure on the Eddie Jones regime. The RFU are not happy about the losses and the clubs are not happy about all the casualties at training camps. Not so long ago, England harboured ambitions to usurp the mighty All Blacks at the top of the global game, on the back of an 18-Test winning streak. It was developing into a new golden age, but that is a fading memory now, amid a growing crisis 15 months out from the World Cup.
As for the Springboks, they may be on the cusp of a new age of prosperity. These back-to-back home wins have launched Rassie Erasmus’s tenure as head coach in compelling fashion. There is renewed hope and excitement i n South Africa that the years of decline may be over and that they could be challenging New Zealand’s dominance in the southern hemisphere again, in the near future.
Although the Boks only led by a point at half-time, there was a sense of inevitability about the final outcome once they had recovered from another false start. Their captain, Siya Kolisi, was a titanic presence, as was No 8 Duane Vermeulen — the man of the match. England had no one t o mat c h these back-row talismans, despite a solid shift from new Kiwi recruit Brad Shields at blindside flanker.
The tourists had seized the early initiative and in the 10th minute, they took the lead with a sweeping try. From a lineout on the left, Billy Vunipola — who was more involved in the heart of the contest than he had been in Johannesburg, before going off injured — blasted forward into contact. The ball came back quickly, George Ford sent it left to Farrell, he picked out Jonny May in support and the wing’s pass sent Mike Brown away to touch down. Farrell’s conversion put England 7-0 up.
It wasn’t long before their lead was into double figures. A penalty was kicked out for another lineout on the left and Maro Itoje brilliantly dispatched i t to Youngs. Ford looped around Farrell, his pass was juggled by Brown, who then patted it out to Elliot Daly and the fullback made ground before releasing May. He demonstrated his predatory instincts, accelerating past Kolisi and cutting back inside to strike.
Remarkably, that turned out to be the last scoring act by an Englishman. The visitors failed to register another point for the remaining 67 minutes of the match. They turned down several shots at goal but had nothing to show for their bold intent.
At Ellis Park seven days earlier, the English advantage briefly reached 21 points. This s time, it stayed at 12 before the Boks started to reel in n their rivals. After a lengthy siege in England’s 22 and a scuffle involving several players, the comeback was ignited when Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira marked his 100th Test appearance e with a barnstorming midfield charge. The ball l was sent right to Vermeulen and dh he thundered between Billy Vunipola and Itoje and over for the hosts’ first try. Handre Pollard converted and the Springbok fly-half added two penalties — the second of them a monstrous, 60-metre shot — to take his team into the break one point in front. English errors and disciplinary di lapses were creeping in once aga again, and just to cap it all, Billy Vunipola w was forced off a minute before half- time, apparently with an arm injury. The situation di didn’t improve for Jon Jones’s men after the re-st re-start. South Africa were swiftly in the ascendancy d again and in the 50th minute the Bok pack drove an attacking scrum back to their opponents’ line andre fereePoi te
awarded a penalty try to make it 20-12.
England rallied, much earlier than they had in adversity in the first Test — and they came close to another try in the 57th minute. From an attacking lineout, their forwards shoved their way towards the home line and Jamie George was stopped just short in the left corner, before Shields stretched to score, only to spill the ball.
Another penalty by Pollard on 67 minutes reinforced South Africa’s control and Jones sent on his replacements in the hope they could conjure a comeback. Danny Cipriani made an instant impact by sending Daly clear but the attack broke down and Nathan Hughes was sent to the sin-bin, which all but extinguished any prospect of an English great escape.
There was no way back, no reprieve, no salvation — just more trouble and strife. Jones and his squad cannot find any light in this long, dark tunnel they have stumbled into.