England unbeaten in autumn internationals as they weather a massive Springbok onslaught to win by one point
Last Updated: 20/11/21 5:24pm
Marcus Smith kicked a penalty in the 79th minute to give England a hard-fought 27-26 win over South Africa in their Autumn Nations Series clash at Twickenham.
It was an impressive forward performance from a side who were expected to falter against the Springbok pack, while, behind the scrum, Smith, Max Malins and Freddie Steward showed their class.
England dominated the first half, scoring two tries through Manu Tuilagi and Steward, with Smith adding a penalty for a 17-12 lead at the break.
However, South Africa stepped things up in the second half and their forward dominance began to tell as England gave away a number of penalties, allowing Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies to kick six penalties between them.
A Raffi Quirke try in the second half gave England a 24-18 advantage before Makazole Mapimpi scored for South Africa. Elton Jantjies missed with the conversion but a long-range penalty from Francois Steyn gave the Boks a narrow lead.
With five minutes remaining, South Africa were in the ascendancy but Siya Kolisi was adjudged to take have taken Joe Marchant out in the air and was yellow carded.
With less than a minute left on the clock, Elton Jantjies was pinged for going off his feet allowing Smith to kick the winning penalty.
More to follow…