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Boks hands England their fifth defeat in a row as the pressure mounts on Borthwick, Kolbe scores a stunner

Posted on by Larry
Boks hands England their fifth defeat in a row as the pressure mounts on Borthwick, Kolbe scores a stunner



Brilliant South African winger Cheslin Kolbe has hurt England again by scoring a try in each half and propelling the Springboks to a 29-20 win at Twickenham, taking the home side’s tally of defeats to five.

It was England’s third successive defeat to a southern hemisphere power in a fortnight, having succumbed 24-22 to New Zealand and 42-37 to Australia, with a number of familiar faces delivering the crucial late blows in a fascinating match on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) that was still in the balance after an hour.

Kolbe, one of the try scorers in the Boks’ 2019 World Cup final victory over England, completed a crossfield kick for his first try in the 22nd minute and crossed for the win in the 63rd after a piercing break from the center. Damien de Allende.

South Africa moved two scores ahead thanks to a conversion by replacement fly-half Handre Pollard, whose last-gasp penalty sealed the Boks’ victory over England in the World Cup semi-finals last year.

The English were then unable to respond despite territory and played the last 10 minutes against 14 men.

Since becoming world champions again a year ago, the Springboks have now won 10 of the 12 Tests and lost the other two by just a point each.

Steve Borthwick’s England side have lost five consecutive Tests, including three in a row at home to Twickenham. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

England, meanwhile, have lost six of their last seven Tests and have developed a worrying tendency to finish tight matches weakly.

This will put increasing pressure on England coach Steve Borthwick, especially if his team fail to beat Japan in their final outing of the year next week.

Borthwick said: “These are painful days, sometimes we put ourselves in positions to win games but we don’t change them. Although these are painful, we will use them in a positive way to help our development.”

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said his team’s experience helped them hold on.

“That team has played a lot of big games together today and persevering when you’ve been carded takes some character and planning,” he said.

A frenetic first half featured five tries, two for England – through Ollie Sleightholme and Sam Underhill – and three for the Boks, via scrum-half Grant Williams’ dazzling, rapid run, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit’s attack and grounding, and Kolbe.

The second half was more exciting and tense, with each team having a try ruled out and England taking a 20–19 lead through Marcus Smith’s penalty in the 52nd.

But England lacked composure with a huge victory in their sights and Pollard, in place of Mannie Libbok, returned the favor with a trademark penalty from halfway to regain the lead for the Boks.

Kolbe took De Allende’s pass and sprinted down the wing to score the try that broke England’s hearts, and Pollard, of course, slotted in the extra from the touchline.

Substitute prop Gerhard Steenekamp’s sin-binning in the 69th minute for repeated team infringements might have cost South Africa their lead, but their defense remained strong and England made mistakes and poor decisions.

The last time England lost three times in a row at home was in 2006.

MONKEY