BLOEMFONTEIN, June (ANA) – South Africa were forced to overturn a 12-point deficit en route to a series-winning 23-12 win over England in their inbound Test match in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
For the second week in a row, the visitors streaked out to an early lead as Mike Brown and Jonny May crossed the whitewash for tries out wide.
The 12-0 lead was the result of some excellent play by England who tested the South African back three under the high ball and then exposing the outside defenders.
The early dominance from Owen Farrell’s side and a number of off the ball incidents led to a number of confrontations as tempers flared.
But crucially for the boisterous crowd, it was another fightback coming good as Duane Vermeulen muscled his way over before letting the boot of Handre Pollard guide them into a halfway lead albeit by a single point.
The home side stormed out the gates and was rewarded with a penalty try in the 49th minute by French referee Romain Poite after applying their scrum dominance.
England then looked to hit back immediately through Hurricanes flank Brad Shields but the television match official correctly denied the five-pointer after Franco Mostert’s timely intervention as Shields stretched for the line.
Coach Rassie Erasmus made the changes as he looked for his side to keep up their relentless defensive effort but it was starting wing Aphiwe Dyantyi who then capped off some fine work on the kick chase to earn his side another penalty which Pollard duly converted to extend the lead to 11 with just over 10 minutes to play.
English replacement Nathan Hughes saw yellow in the 69th minute for a cynical infringement at the breakdown and that all but seal the series win for the Springboks.
With their tails up, South Africa were forced to defend almost entirely from that moment and did an admirable job in keeping England scoreless for the entire second period.
Scorers: South Africa 23 (13): Tries: Duane Vermeulen, Penalty try. Conversion: Handre Pollard. Penalties: Pollard (3)
England 12 (12): Tries: Mike Brown, Jonny May. Conversion: Owen Farrell.
– African News Agency (ANA)
