South Africa player ratings vs England : Autumn Nations Series
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South Africa player ratings vs England from their second match of the Autumn Nations Series at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
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England’s search for a win in the Autumn Nations Series continues, despite a valiant showing in their 29-20 defeat to South Africa. England ignited the evening with a try after just three minutes, as Marcus Smith set off on a searching run. The Harlequin slipped the tackle of Eben Etzebeth and Ox Nche, before Henry Slade shipped a pass to Ollie Sleightholme, for a try in the corner.
However, the Springboks soon returned fire, as some individual brilliance from Grant Williams turned Freddie Steward inside out for the equalizing try after 12 minutes. South Africa then grabbed their second try, as their titanic forwards Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit charged down two consecutive England clearance kicks. Du Toit was quickest to react, and grounded the ball that had rolled over the try-line. Manie Libbok then stepped up for the Boks third try, as his cross-field kick found Cheslin Kolbe, and the wing skipped past Steward and then scampered over the whitewash.
Sam Underhill shone on his own return to England colours, as the back row battered his way through Bongi Mbonambi for a try mid-way through the first half. Some neat place kicking of Marcus Smith narrowed the deficit to just two points, and the teams split for half-time with the score-line reading 19-17 to South Africa.
Two tries were disallowed early in the second half, with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Henry Slade both seeing their names scrubbed off the score-sheet. Kolbe would race away for his second try just after the hour mark, as he turned Ollie Sleightholme on his heels before the dive over the line. Gerhard Steenekamp was sent to the sin bin, as the replacement Springbok prop was illegally interfering in the line-out.
Scroll down to see our South Africa player ratings vs England.
England: 20
- Tries: Ollie Sleightholme (03′), Sam Underhill (25′)
- Cons: Marcus Smith (04′, 26′)
- Pens: Marcus Smith( 15′, 51′)
South Africa: 29
- Tries: Grant Williams (10′), Pieter-Steph du Toit (16′), Cheslin Kolbe (21′, 62′)
- Cons: Manie Libbok (11′, 22′), Handre Pollard (63′)
- Pens: Handre Pollard( 58′)
South Africa player ratings vs England:
15 Aphelele Fassi – 7
14 Cheslin Kolbe – 9
13 Jesse Kriel – 7
12 Damian de Allende – 7.5
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse – 7.5
10 Manie Libbok – 7
9 Grant Williams – 8.5
8 Jasper Wiese – 7
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit – 8.5
6 Siya Kolisi (c) – 8
5 RG Snyman – 8
4 Eben Etzebeth – 8
3 Wilco Louw – 7
2 Bongi Mbonambi – 7
1 Ox Nche -6
Replacements
16 Malcolm Marx – 7
17 Gerhard Steenekamp – 7
18 Vincent Koch – 7.5
19 Elrigh Louw – 6
20 Kwagga Smith – 6
21 Cobus Reinach – 7
22 Handré Pollard – 7.5
23 Lukhanyo Am – N/a
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