MY ACCOUNT
South Africa cruised to a first away win over England since 2014 as the Springboks prevailed 27-13 at Twickenham despite being reduced to 14 men.
Meeting for the second time since the Boks beat England in the 2019 World Cup final, South Africa dictated the contest after falling behind early to Owen Farrell’s penalty.
With director of rugby Rassie Erasmus absent due to his two-game ban for social media posts about alleged refereeing inconsistencies in the Springboks’ 30-26 loss to France in Marseille, South Africa produced a convincing performance that backed up their status as favourites.
Faf de Klerk kicked six points in the first half, his two penalties sandwiched by a Damian Willemse drop goal and a sensational solo try from Kurt-Lee Arendse that saw him score for the sixth successive Test.
The visitors led 14-3 at half-time and, after Willemse and Farrell traded penalties, their command was furthered after England’s Tom Curry was sin-binned.
Eben Etzebeth dotted down and De Klerk converted before knocking over another three-pointer, but South Africa’s momentum was checked when Thomas du Toit was sent off for a no arms tackle on Luke Cowan-Dickie.
Henry Slade took advantage to score England’s sole try, but that was scant consolation at the end of a game that suggested the gap between the two 2019 finalists has widened.
