Following a 12-11 victory for England over South Africa in their November international, here’s our five takeaways from the Twickenham clash.
How was that not a shoulder charge? You need a bit of luck in the game and Owen Farrell certainly received it when he was not penalised for an apparent shoulder charge on Andre Esterhuizen. Referee Angus Gardner, who otherwise had a good game, deemed that the fly-half had shown enough of a wrap to not infringe. No doubt South Africa will be miffed, although they will rue their inability to take their chances in the first-half.
England take advantage of South African profligacy: The Springboks dominated the opening period and were in control but the home side defended their line excellently and stayed in the game. Once the match opened up a bit more, it played to England’s strengths with Elliot Daly, Jonny May and Ben Te’o coming more into the contest. The visitors struggled once the Red Rose shifted the ball wide, even though the two playmakers, Farrell and Henry Slade, didn’t fully find that fluidity in attack.
Malcolm Marx fails to hit his targets: The South African has rightly been nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year but he struggled to impose himself against England. The line-out was abysmal and several overthrows let the hosts off the hook. It perhaps even cost them the game as, with the chances they had, the Springboks should have been 20 points up at half-time. He did a couple of decent things in the loose, including a dominant carry and a crucial turnover after the Red Rose produced their best move of the match, but Marx failed to have the usual influence on the encounter.
England’s inexperienced players step up: There were significant worries following the injuries and suspension to a number of England’s forwards, particularly at prop and number eight, but their replacements, in general, did well. Back-rower Mark Wilson got man of the match following an energetic effort while Ben Moon came off the bench to steady the front-row. Zach Mercer also impressed having replaced the unfortunate Tom Curry, who was the Red Rose’s standout before going off injured.
New Zealand will have no problems on this evidence: England against the All Blacks is a game everyone was looking forward to at the start of the year but, following a poor run of form, a comfortable win for the tourists seems inevitable. Irrespective of England’s victory on Saturday, you can’t imagine Steve Hansen’s men passing up the opportunities South Africa had in the first-half. They are usually close affairs at Twickenham between the two sides – on the scoreboard at least – but you can’t see the Red Rose getting close next week.