80+ min: Time is up but the Boks are still running at England! They want to rub their noses in it. Moodie, Kolbe, Wessells, Dixon, Moodie again. They’re inside England’s 22. Stop, stop! They’re already dead!
TRY! South Africa 45-21 England (Dixon, 79)
Water is wet, the Boks forwards boss their opponents. Almost immediately they win the scrum penalty and Wiese picks up and almost gets over down the blind on the left. He’s just short but Dixon is there in support. He gathers and, after intially being held up, slams the ball down. Kolbe adds the icing with a superb conversion out in the tram.
Updated
78 min: Held up! Chessum got his body under van Staaden’s. But the Boks had the penalty advantage and wouldn’t you know it, they’ve chosen to scrum five out.
77 min: Outstanding from the Boks. They won the penalty at the scrum, went through the hands before Kolbe kicked to the corner. Fayi-Waboso gathered but Moodie was there to tackle, regather his feet and steal the turnover and win a penalty. In a blink, Marx is throwing to the line five out.
76 min: Esterhuizen is limping off. Wiese is back on to scrum inside his own half towards the right.
76 min: A monster counter ruck from the Boks clears two English players at the base of a ruck and wins the ball for the home side.
TRY! South Africa 38-21 England (Marx, 74)
Mauled over! Marx find his target at the line-out then joins his mates to rumble over the English pack. “An alpha test” as Flatman calls it and SA are flexing. Kolbe converts and now there’s daylight between the sides. Just pure power. England are wilting.
Yellow card! England (Pepper, 73)
Another high tackle and another England player goes in the bin! Is that the game? It’s bang in front but Libbok kicks to the corner.
72 min: SA line-out on England’s 22. Marx throws and gets it back. Dixon carries. Wessells does likewise. Porthen makes ground and they have a penalty advantage on the 22. England could be in trouble here.
Yellow card (bunker)! England (Freeman, 71)
Not what England needed but there can be no argument! Willemse gathered a high kick and Freeman came screaming up. He never stooped and met Willemse’s head with his shoulder. He might be in trouble here actually. They’ll review. Could be a red. 50/50 for me.
71 min: Freeman melts Willemse but it always looked a touch high. It’s a penalty, but is it also a yellow card?
TRY! South Africa 31-21 England (Coles, 69)
A glimmer of hope! Off the line-out, they hammer the line at pace. Slade then scythes from midfield against the grain and almost slices his way through himself after collecting a perfect Mitchell pass. That takes them within a metre and Cole picks and goes over. Smith converts. 10 points. They need two scores. They couldn’t. Could they?
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67 min: England are camped inside the Boks’ 22. Pace is good. Pepper runs hard. Then Pollock, to the sound of boos. Opoku-Fordjour carries. They have the advantage but can’t make it work. So they have the penalty pretty much bang in front about 20 metres short. It’s kicked out to the right corner. England will try claw their way back off a line-out.
65 min: A scrappy, and frankly boring, passage ends with Slade finding M Smith who kicks into space. Willemse gathers and then sends it out beyond halfway. Esterhuizen, the man who starred for Quins in midfield, is on in the back row, replacing Wiese.
62 min: Pollock is on. Williams kicks high and SA almost win it back. Mitchell kicks and Willemse gathers. He has been outstanding today. SA with the ball on halfway and Williams kicks high. Kolbe chases but England come away with it. Mitchell kicks and Willemse runs it back this time. Libbok hangs in the pocket and hangs a kick down the left touch. Can you tell the game has settled on a particular pattern?
60 min: South Africa win their first scrum penalty of the match! Is this the moment the tide turns ar set piece. So far England have had parity. Libbok can’t find touch, he was greedy looking for extra ground. Freeman did brilliantly there. Libbok returns the Mitchell kick and England are attacking inside their own half down the left with F Smith pulling strings.
59 min: South Africa’s blitz defence is causing problems for England. The visitors get away with another break as a floated pass is almost picked by Kriel on halfway. He read it perfectly and got two hands up, but couldn’t hold on. Scrum to England just inside South Africa’s patch, slightly closer to the right touch.
TRY! South Africa 31-14 England (Kriel, 58)
That was too easy for South Africa! But that’s only because Willemse is just an absolute gun! Everything he touches turns to gold. It started off the line-out and a huge drive from the forwards. Then de Allende straightened the attack. Porthen and Wiese too. It was going nowhere until Willemse joined the line, stepped, wriggled and found the perfect pass to spark a move down the left. When it got to Kriel, he simply had to run it over. Kolbe lands the conversion to create some breathing room.
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56 min: The game has become a little scrappy now. Another penalty against England for taking out a Bok int he air gives Libbok the chance to kick to the corner. It’s not a very good kick so this line-out will take place on England’s 22.
54 min: A lovely touch from Libbok who delays his pass and then off-loads, one-handed, under-arm for Kolbe to his right. Kolbe’s kick is poor and bobbles out of touch inside England’s 22. Good from the Boks there with PS du Toit also involved from a line-out that took them to England’s red zone. But the visitors clear well.
Slade is on at 13, Freeman shifted to wing, Fayi-Yaboso is on the right wing. Murley is gone, as is JvP for Mitchell. Cowan-Dickie is on for George.
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52 min: My word, what a take that is from Fai-Waboso in the air, leaping ahead of Arendse to win the ball back for his side. A bit of kick tennis now. Both scrum-halves hoisting it high. Murley gives away a penalty from one, though, as he takes out Kolbe in the air. No ill intent. But that was a little reckless.
50 min: JvP knocks-on off the top of a line-out, following SA’s clearance from the scrum inside their own 22. So SA will get another scrum and a chance to get down the field. This set piece, which now includse young Porthen, is inside SA territory, to the left. Dixon and van Staaden on too.
49 min: Smith almost scores! He found a gap and was through. Could he pass for Atkinson to his right? Could he hold on? Neither. SA survive after great work from England following a sound maul and some stiff carries. Martin is having a great game. England are not going away. They leave this visit to the Boks’ 22 with nothing, but that was super close.
47 min: England get a chance to reply as Nortje gives away a penalty from the restart. F Smith nudges it to the corner on the left.
TRY! South Africa 24-14 England (Williams, 46)
Finally! The pressure was immense. What was that, about 25 phases? Huge carries from the forwards then Williams flings to Libbok who finds Kriel who finds Arendse. he’s well tackled by Murley and SA almost lose it, but they keep hold of it until Williams, at the back of a ruck, spots a gap and snipes through. This conversion is good, made easier by Williams running closer to the poles. That is world class scrum-half play from one of the quickest rugby players on the planet.
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44 min: England’s defence is holding. They’ve pushed the Boks back a touch. Those carries are looking leggy until Willemse wriggles through a half gap. But he’s held. 15 phases…
43 min: Libbok kicks a little closer to the corner on the right. Big line-out this. They go to the bacl where Hanekom wins it. Wiese makes a great carry. Hanekom again. PS du Toit. They’re five out. Wiese again. Hanekom again. Du Toit again. Phew, how many of them are there? But England hold…
41 min: Early penalty after a high kick becomes a scrap on the floor. Wiese with the turnover. Libbok to hoof it out back in England’s patch. The SA line-out was a little creaky. Let’s see how this one, just short of the 22, goes. Nortje rises and gathers and the Boks maul then win a penalty.
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Second half
They’re back.
Momentum with England but South Africa with the narrow lead.
F Smith to kick off. Who will handle the altitude best?
Some emails.
“Why on earth is Borthwick still in charge?” asks Joshua Keeling. I don’t know, three down at half time to the world champions at their spiritual home doesn’t seem so bad.
And Craig Thomas:
“Shame for Fiji? No credit for Wales turning around their abysmal recent record and winning against a star-studded Fijian XV?
”As for the venue, this ‘malarkey’ won’t be sorted out for next year, or the year after.
Fiji is using the revenue from these away ‘home’ games to build a new stadium, which is scheduled for a 2030 completion.
”Sadly, the Pacific Island nations still get the shitty end of the World Rugby stick and have to do things like playing home games on the other side of the world in order to achieve any kind of financial parity. Oceans Apart, the 2020 documentary, showed how they are still second-class citizens in the game. Unlike football - where we’re seeing the fruits of investing in underdeveloped nations in the expanded World Cup - rugby isn’t very good at sharing the spoils of its big events.”
Fair enough. Credit to Wales.
Half-time: South Africa 17-14 England
A half of two halves. South Africa were so dominant that it seemed as if they’d score a million. But England held firm and eventually started throwing some punches of their own and head into the sheds within touching distance of the world champs.
TRY! South Africa 17-14 England (Martin, 40+2)
England are right back in this! Off the line-out they probe the midfield before going back towards the blind where Martin steamrolls Wiese! That is a meaty carry that will surely cause the seismologist a problem. F Smith slots the extras and it’s only a three point game!
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40+1 min: F Smith rakes a wonder 50/22. That is excellent! England will have a chance to close the gap. As much as SA dominated the first 20 minutes, I have to say that England have been the better team in this second quarter.
40 min: We’ll end with a scrum on halfway away to England’s right touch after Williams knocks on as he read JvP’s floated pass. How did he not catch that? If he had he would surely have ran away for a try.
38 min: De Villiers gives away a penalty inside England’s 22. Fayi-Waboso ran back to field a Williams box that was ltoo long but he spilled it backwards. That meant M Smith had to mop up and he did brilliantly finding space and pointing back in the right direction. De Villiers came running in and lost his feet as he went for the steal.
TRY! South Africa 17-7 England (Genge, 36)
Genge goes alone and scores! He was close enough to do so thanks to some smart work from Murley a few moments earlier, the Quins winger picked up a loose ball and darted through a gap. He was hauled down by Willemse about seven short. Then they recycled and Kriel was off-side. as Fayi-Waboso was inching forward. Rather than wait for his mates to decide what to do from touching distance, Genge picked up and ran over PS du Toit, no mean feat!
The simple conversion makes it a 10-point game.
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36 min: England get a penalty five short of the line…
33 min: Chessum pinches a South African line-out, getting in front of PS du Toit. Atkinson then pins a kick down in the opposite corner, forcing the Boks to once again clear from their own 22.
Marx goes over the top at the line-out – how brave from inside his 22 – and Libbok hoofs it out to halfway.
This is solid work from the team with 14 men. Controlled. Not panicky.
31 min: Chessum almost scores! WOW! Kolbe is a lucky man. F Smith on the angle rake a grubber to the corner. It bounces and bobbles and Kolbe is there covering, but he waits for it to bounce out. It doesn’t, and the onrushing Chessum gathers the ball and dots down in the corner. Except one of his size 16s touched the touchline, so SA get a relieving line-out. Then they get a penalty as Genge goes high on de Villiers. So Libbok can clear to just short of halfway. England have done well since that early flurry.
Yellow card! South Africa (Arendse, 29)
I can’t stand that! Arendse is ahead of the pass because he read Smith like a book. He made an attempt to gather it. Feyi-Waboso was there but that was barely an overlap. Flatman on comms agrees with me. Still, the law is the law. He went with one hand so will spend the rest of this half in the bin. Can England make it count?
27 min: England will have the scrum feed on their own 22. JvP places the ball right under his No 8s feet, practically, and the scrum collapses but the ball is playable. Eventually JvP kicks and Murley wins a ball in the air, pinching it off Kolbe. Down the other wing, Arendse knocks on. M Smith was lucky there as Arendse was up attempting to intercept a loose pass to Feyi-Waboso. If he snaffled that he would have been out of sight. Instead, we’ll have an England scrum in their own half near their right touch. This game is being played at such a frantic pace!
Oh, they’re looking if this is a deliberate knock-on from Arendse.
25 min: Williams gets a sloppy pass at a line-out inside his own half but who needs clean ball when you have nitroglycerin in your boots? He drops a shoulder, spots a gap and explodes upfield, chewing up about 50 metres in a flash. He finds de Villiers in support who finds PS du Toit. The onrushing Hanekom knocks on so M Smith can hoof clear. But the return kick from Willemse comes back with interest. England had a try disallowed, but if the Boks were a little more accurate they could have had two more of their own.
23 min: We don’t get the scrum because SA went early and gifted a free kick to England. The men in white regroup and run it. Atkinson is melted by PSDT. But England still have it. It’s scrappy, the Boks defence is so quick. JvP box kicks a clever little dinked one that finds touch on England’s left. England are showing plenty of puff, but the Boks defence is holding firm.
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19 min: The Boks almost hit back immediately! It’s so slick. Nortje wins the line-out, off the top de Villiers then carries. Williams hoists a high kick, Kolbe puts Smith under pressure and SA have the ball. PSDT offloads for Marx to his right in the tram and had that stitched they would have been away. In a few seconds they go from their own line to deep inside England’s patch. They just look so well coached.
But the knock-on gives England a chance to clear, so SA have the ball back inside their own half where Williams lifts another high kick that is won back before it’s spilled.
So after a hectic period, we’ll have a scrum for England around halfway.
NO TRY! South Africa 17-0 England
No he wasn’t! George was offside! JvP touched the ball when it was still in the morass. That meant that George was offside as he was in front of his 9, still technically part of the ruck. South Africa escape with some mighty defence, Echoes of the first half of the 2019 WC final.
Or did he? They’re checking it. Was George entitled to play the ball there?
TRY! South Africa 17-5 England (George, 18)
England are on the board! 15 phases and they get there. From the tap and go it was all the big units who kept it close. Pick and go. Pick and go. The SA defence held firm but couldn’t do so forever and the England skipper eventually dabbed it down.
16 min: England spill it! But de Villiers was off-side. Genge the last man to spill it. Or was it Earl, or both? Either way, England will tap and go from five out.
15 min: Better from England as F Smith, then Earl, then M Smith carry well and make metres. JvP has the ball on the edge of the Boks’ 22. Martin carries into traffic. They go down the blind on the right through Coles. Then come back infield with Atkinson carrying well. F Smith finds space around the fringe and they’re within 10 now. Much better. Hayes takes ot to within three..
TRY! South Africa 17-0 England (Arendse, 12)
Another one! Oh. My. Goodness! I said this could be close. It could still be, but it aint now! South Africa are on fire. From the free-kick they go through the hands. Willemse up to the line just spirals a pass out to Arendse who lines up Marcus Smith, jinks and beats him to the corner. Strenght and pace. Every player out there looks immense so far.
It’s not perfect though. Kolbe shanks another conversion.
Updated
12 min: England thought they’d won the line-out but Heyes stepped in too early. Free kick for the Boks five out.
11 min: Murley does well under a high Williams kick but he’s pinned for holding onto the ball. South Africa has dominated the sky so far. Rather than kick at the sticks, Libbok nudges to the corner. The Boks smell blood. Line-out about seven out.
9 min: Nche is replaced early by Steenekamp. He was injured after that barnstorming run. Anyway, here come the Boks off a line-out. De Allende straightens and finds space. He feeds Kolbe who grubbers, forcing Feyi-Waboso to mop up. The England wingetr does well and JvP can kick deep but here comes Willemse again, who has been perfect under the high ball.
9 min: Williams hoists a high box that is just about cleaned up by England. But the ball from van Poortvliet is sloppy and F Smith has to tidy again. They’re back in their own 22. JvP boxes himself but he goes for distance and touch, finding it around halfway. Good exit. But England need to find some oomph here. They are getting clattered in the contact.
TRY! South Africa 12-0 England (Kolbe, 6)
Kolbe side-steps Murley and scores! Phew, the Springboks have come to play! Let’s recap.
Willemse catches, chips and gathers. Then Kriel kept it going. Then Wiese ran over three defenders. Then Nche did the same and motored up the English 22, running about 25 metres. Then Williams recycled and sent it right. Kolbe got it and side-stepped Murley in the tram and scored. The conversion is good and the Boks are off to a flyer!
Updated
5 min: F Smith kicks long to Willemse who chips and chases and gathers his own return. Wiese is over the gainline. Kriel finds Kolbe on the left wing. My word they look on it. Nche carries and runs over a tackler, the prop runs 25 metres into England’s 22….
TRY! South Africa 5-0 England (T du Toit, 3)
The tank charges over! Off the line-out, Marx went right over the top. The ball is soon flung to Willemse on the canter, he came close but was hauled down. From there it was kept tight in the corner and the Bath legend picks and drives and won’t be denied.
Kolbe has the kicking tee and he shanks it right of the sticks from the left tram.
1 min: Willemse fields a high kick. Libbok hoists one himself and Smith climbs and spills. That’s not forward but Freeman’s intervention was. And Englishman also loses his feet so Libbok rakes to the corner and Marx will have a throw inside English territory.
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Kick-off
‘The final countdown’ blasts around Ellis Park.
Decent crowd in as James Doleman blows his whistle and we’re under way with Libbok kicking us off!
This could all hinge on the scrum.
Not that England fans need reminding, but this relationship is now defined by two scrums.
One in 2019 when Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira consumed Dan Cole. And then in 2023 when Ox ‘salads-don’t-win-scrums’ Nche turned the tide in the semi-final.
The players are out. Well, England first. Then come the South Africans, led by muscled men dressed like a Zulu warriors, brandishing spears and knobkerries.
Then come the Boks, led by Damian Willense and Cheslin Kolbe who win their 50th caps.
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Luca Human has been in touch hoping for some Saffa joy:
“After the disappointing result against Canada, hoping for a bit of a rebound for SA sports today. Sucks re Siya & Eben, but as an avid Stormers fan I have full confidence in Paul de Villiers.”
Add in the Women’s T20 World Cup – where England trounced South Africa – and good news on the pitch has been in short supply.
David Flatman and Topsy Ojo are on screen chatting about altitude.
Johannesburg sits 1,750 metres above sea level.
Bryan Habana is now talking about.
Does it matter? Well, if you’re interested, I explored that here.
Wales beat Fiji 39-24.
Shame for Fiji but from what I saw they were pretty sloppy.
So that’s 2-2 in the Nations Championship so far. A reminder of the results:
New Zealand 34-32 France
Japan 27-10 Italy
Australia 31-33 Ireland
Fiji 24-39 Wales
Why are Wales second there? Because technically they were the away side. A farce, really, as the game was played in Cardiff. But for reasons that do not extend beyond finances Fiji aren’t hosting any of their home games. I hope they’re making a fortune and this is the last year this malarky happens.
Curious to see how many fans are in the stands today.
You’d think it’d be a sell-out. But a combination of expensive tickets, the stadium being located in a part of town with a poor reputation, and that the All Blacks are playing two matches in the province in August, means SA Rugby have struggled to sling tickets.
They’ve reduced the price (which is a tough break for those who did pay the premium fee) and have been quite punchy, saying:
“Predictions that the attendance would be little more than 21 000 were entirely erroneous and misinformed. SA Rugby hopes to get close to the historic average against England in SA of 91% of the stadiums’ capacity in a market in which tickets are on sale for four Test matches and two provincial matches against the touring All Blacks. Assertions of lack of interest are unfounded and not supported by the actual sales data.”
Well, no one said there wasn’t interest. I have interest in living in a house with a swimming pool.
Here’s some reading for you while we build towards kick-off:
England team news
It’s not as dramatic, but England have had to make a late change of their own.
George Furbank has appendicitis and was taken to hospital yesterday. That means Marcus Smith moves from the bench to the 15 jersey.
Henry Slade joins the 23 on the bench.
Steve Borthwick has gone for some big timber in the pack and has picked a 6-2 split. George Martin and Alex Coles could win this match for their country if they stand up and wear down the now lightened Springboks pack.
Of course all eyes will be on the bench, eager to see Henry Pollock enter the scene. No visiting player since Jonah Lomu has attracted as much attention as the Northampton Saints lad. (No, I’m not comparing the two, but the collective headloss from Saffa fans has been immense).
England: Marcus Smith; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, Seb Atkinson, Cadan Murley; Fin Smith, Jack van Poortvliet; Ellis Genge, Jamie George (c), Joe Heyes, Alex Coles, George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Beno Obano, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Carlie Ewels, Guy Pepper, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, Henry Slade.
Kolisi and Etzebeth out! SA team news
We’re going to find out if this depth in SA rugby everyone keeps banging on about is truth or guff.
A bombshell has landed. Both Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth have been withdrawn from the match-23.
Pieter-Steph du Toit shifts to the second row and will captain the team while Cameron Hanekom – a superb athlete but one who is yet to shine on a Test pitch – will take the 7 jersey with Paul de Villiers making his debut at 6.
There’s a mini crisis at lock. In fact, there are no replacement locks on the bench with Marco van Staden and Ben-Jason Dixon (more of a loose forward than a lock) the forwards on a 5-3 bench.
South Africa: Damian Willemse; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Manie Libbok, Grant Williams; Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit, Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), Ruan Nortje, Paul de Villiers, Cameron Hanekom, Jasper Wiese.
Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Zachary Porthen, Marco van Staden, Ben-Jason Dixon, Cobus Reinach, Andre Esterhuizen, Canan Moodie.
Preamble
We return to the place where it all started.
Back in 2018, on a wintry Johannesburg day, Eddie Jones’ England came to town to play a dynasty in its infancy.
It was the first home match of the Rassie Erasmus era and the first time Siya Kolisi skippered the side.
After England raced to a 24-3 lead at Ellis Park, the Springboks went on to win 42-39 and begin the first steps as one of the most dominant sides the sport has ever seen. Two World Cups, a British & Irish Lions tour, three Rugby Championship titles and two of their players crowned best in the world. It’s been some ride.
England are back. They have a different coach though their hosts haven’t changed too much. Erasmus is still in charge. Kolisi is still skipper. The weight of a nation still rests on their meaty shoulders.
What has changed is the expectations around this fixture. Anything other than a South African romp will be viewed as an upset. But I’ve got a sneaky feeling England could spring a surprise. I’m not saying they’ll win, but this could be tighter than some have imagined.
In a day littered with blockbuster matches, this is surely the headline act. I cannot wait!
Kick-off at 17:40 in Johannesburg/16:40 BST.
Team news (and there are some doozies) and other bits to follow.
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