South Africa opened their Nations Championship campaign with a statement, running in seven tries to beat England 45-21 at Ellis Park on 4 July and handing Steve Borthwick's side another chastening afternoon on the highveld.
The world champions did it the hard way in terms of personnel. Captain Siya Kolisi was ruled out before kick-off with a hamstring problem and Eben Etzebeth was lost to a head injury, yet the Springbok machine barely stuttered in front of a crowd of 52,790.
Thomas du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse struck early, and although England hung in through a competitive first half, tries from Jesse Kriel, Grant Williams and Ben-Jason Dixon pulled the game apart after the break. Kolbe added five conversions. England had their moments — Ellis Genge, George Martin and Alex Coles all crossed — but never enough to suggest an upset.
Pieter-Steph du Toit, leading the side in Kolisi's absence, put the performance down to buy-in rather than any single moment of brilliance, saying "the system helps players when they accept and understand it."
For England, it was a fifth successive test defeat and the questions came quickly. Borthwick acknowledged his team had run into the best side in the world and been beaten in the areas South Africa prize most — the kicking game and the aerial contest. Discipline hurt too: Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were both sent to the bin late, leaving England with 13 men as the Boks pressed for a bonus point.
The reaction in the British press was unforgiving. The Guardian's Robert Kitson wrote that the champions had exposed England's discipline problems on the way to seven tries, and warned that a Fiji test now looms with real menace over Borthwick's project. The Times went further, arguing that this England setup has become "too happy to accept mediocrity", dressing up defeats as brave and plucky. Planet Rugby called the margin flattering to the visitors and singled out full-back Damian Willemse as flawless.
South Africa, typically, refused to get carried away. Rassie Erasmus turned the focus straight to the next assignment — a much-changed Springbok side to face Scotland — and warned that the scoreboard against England said little about what is coming. "They beat England in the Six Nations, so if you go off of those results then this match will be tougher than last weekend," the head coach said.
Erasmus then rotated heavily for the Scotland game, making around ten changes to his starting line-up, confident enough in his depth to freshen up after a seven-try day. England, meanwhile, travel to Fiji knowing another slip would turn a difficult tour into a genuine crisis.
